Blears calls for public 'empowerment'

Hazel Blears has stressed the importance of keeping the public involved in politics.

The communities secretary used a speech on the "new politics" on Tuesday to say that the cabinet should meet outside of Downing Street in town halls across the country.

Blears told the Social Market Foundation that "empowerment" should be made into a political battleground.

Giving the community control of local assets would enable the government "to prove that we are still on the side of the people who pay our wages and afford us the incredible honour and privilege of serving as MPs or ministers", she argued.

And she stressed the need for ministers to remain "normal", with experience of doing "real" jobs.

Blears said: "Every government minister should immerse themselves in the lives and communities of the people they serve.

"It is all too easy for ministers to become remote, cooped up in departmental offices, driven from meeting to meeting, and enveloped by civil servants.

"We need to create the space for ministers to remain grounded and normal.

"Just imagine if the cabinet meeting took place at the British Legion, Swindon, the Town Hall, Grimsby, or the Victoria Community Centre in Crewe. There is no good reason why not.

"Imagine if the meeting was preceded by sessions with cabinet ministers meeting local people, listening to their concerns, engaging in discussion, local schools getting involved.

"Interviews for local newspapers and community radio. And no doubt it would have a direct impact on the decisions made."

Blears spent time working at a supermarket last year, and she argued that this "should become the norm".