These remembrances concern the governance of this Realm, which by long custom and the accumulation of expedient arrangements hath grown into a state of considerable disorder. Herein are set down certain proposals — touching matters of government, territory, and the public good — which, if adopted, might render the affairs of the Kingdom more answerable to reason and more apt for the age in which we find ourselves.
The Several Matters Herein Addressed
The Cabinet
Touching the establishment of a smaller and more tightly ordered Cabinet for the governance of the Kingdom
Parliament
Touching the reform of both Houses of Parliament, and the restoration of Parliamentary sovereignty over the judiciary
The Administrative State
Touching the reform of the Civil Service, the abolition of quangos, and the dismantling of the unaccountable apparatus of government
The Counties
Touching the alignment of strategic authorities with the historic counties of the Realm
Unitary Authorities
Touching the drawing of council boundaries within the counties, and the naming thereof
The London Boroughs
Touching the reorganisation of London's boroughs along the lines of their historic Hundreds
Taxation
Touching the simplification of the tax code, the flattening of rates, and the principle that every subject should contribute
Health & Social Care
Touching the replacement of the National Health Service with a system of mandatory social insurance
Education
Touching the liberty of schools, the freedom of parents, and the restoration of rigour in the teaching of the young
Charitable Bodies
Touching the rationalisation and consolidation of the charitable bodies of the Realm
The BBC
Touching the reform of the British Broadcasting Corporation and the proper limits of publicly funded media
The Universities
Touching the governance of the ancient foundations, the proliferation of degrees, the corruption of free inquiry, and the restoration of rigour in the higher learning of the Realm
Aid to Foreign Realms
Touching the measure and direction of the alms this Realm bestoweth upon the nations of the world
Welfare
Touching the relief of those out of work, the principle of contribution, and the doctrine that aid should be a bridge and not a dwelling
A Note upon the Remembrances
In my years of service to the King's Majesty, I kept always about me certain lists and memoranda — notes of matters to be raised with His Grace, of business to be transacted, and of reforms to be pursued. These I called my remembrances. They were not grand declarations of principle, but working documents, drawn up by a man who believed that the business of the state is best advanced one item at a time.
It is in that same spirit that these present remembrances are offered — a list of things that want doing, set down plainly, in the hope that orderly thinking might yet accomplish what grand rhetoric hath so often failed to achieve.
READ MORE