Cam’s Volunteering Policy: a Bolt from the Blue that tells us Four things about this Election

At 10.25 this morning David Cameron announced that a future Conservative government would guarantee 3 days’ paid volunteering leave for employees in big public and private sector organisations. He reckons this will affect half of our country’s workforce.

It is good stuff, and something of a bolt from the blue (ahem) in an election campaign fought largely by the Tories on the economy, jobs and poking Ed Mili with a stick. What’s the game here? Beyond all the usual debates about the cost of volunteers and the nature of paid for volunteering, here are four thoughts for the third sector and our campaigners.

1. This isn’t a revival of ‘Big Society.’ That horse has bolted. There is no supervening strategy to empower communities. It’s a micropolicy. That doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be welcomed, it should be and we have welcomed it. You can hold two thoughts in your head at the same time – that this is a good idea and that the lack of a social critique thus far in the Tory offer beyond a ‘good economy means good things can be paid for, eventually’ doesn’t befit their grand social tradition.
2. The public is on the third sector’s side. Tory election supremo Lynton Crosby is known for his disciplined messaging – how many times have you heard the term ‘Long Term Economic Plan’ since he assumed control? He’s not into Big Society or any of the other things he sees as ‘Barnacles on the Boat.’ This is not because he’s somehow dead inside; he relies on state-of-the art polling and analysis to form his views. And he pays no attention to newspapers or externally commissioned polls. If he’s sanctioned a policy of this nature it’s because his polling is telling him that the Tories need it. And he can also be sure that volunteering will play well with his grassroots voter base. Overall this is a good thing – the public is demanding we feature more in the Tory analysis and we should take heart from that fact.

1. Tim Montgomerie’s ‘Good Right’ critique is working for us. Following on from point 2, the Tory literati are saying the same thing as the grassroots. One Nation Conservatives have been largely shut out of the hyper-liberal Tory narrative and Coalition government strategy of the last five years. This has culminated in a counter-movement, ‘The Good Right.’ Their provocations aim to reinvigorate the idea of Tory social policy that think tanks like the Centre for Social Justice carried prior to 2010 but which has waned considerably since. There are good, broad church alliances to be made here

 

4. For the first time in #ge2015, the third sector has a genuine choice between the two major parties. Election campaign veterans like myself are used to this phase of the campaign where you ‘define the choice’ between yourself and the opponent. How many times have you clocked the phrase ‘The choice at this election is between [insert political framing here]’ . At ACEVO’s Social Leaders debate we got little light about what the positive offer from the Conservative party was. Now we have it: two options backed by the weight of law, exactly as ACEVO argued for in our manifesto, Free Society. Labour are offering legal backing for our right to campaign. The Tories are offering legal backing for our right to volunteer. To recall an old television cliche, Which priority wins? You decide…