The Hour

The shiny new notion of the Big Society has nothing to do with me and my family. David Cameron has thought it up as a wonderful way of sorting out the fact the country is skint and full of lots of very human problems.

As far as I can grasp, the idea is that he’ll get people "out there" in communities to volunteer to do things that, ultimately, they are either doing already or have no intention of doing under any circumstance.  Marvellous, but as we don’t have any problems more serious than dogs that poo on the pavement or how to get a new roof for the Scout Hut it’s not going to change anything here.

Mr Cameron tried to flatter people into going along with it when he said: “We know instinctively that the state is often too inhuman, monolithic and clumsy to tackle our deepest social problems." And: “We know that the best ideas come from the ground up, not the top down.”

It’s nice to know that the Nanny State acknowledges that we the real people might know what we’re doing. That’s why, in the main, we’ve been running our communities quite happily, thanks. Kind of him to say o, though.

Long before this Conservative government had a sniff of power, I decided to bring my children up as I was with what, I suppose, must be called a sense of community and responsibility for themselves and others. It’s a grand way of describing many of the things we – and almost all the other parents I know - do. My sons are cubs and scouts and they see me helping out. I’m involved at school. We’ll often pick up other people’s litter (stopping short of the dog poo though). One boy’s in the Under Nines’ football team and my husband coaches it. We chip in at church. I’ve signed petitions, worn badges, been to meetings, sat on committees and helped with fundraising.

My sense that if you want to get something out of an organisation – for example the Scouts – then you have to play your part in making it a success. What goes around, comes around; or even "good Karma" if you must. It’s a lesson I’m trying to teach my children.

Obviously, it’s not a big stretch to extend that to getting something out of the local community, the society, the country and how you have to put something in. Yes, that’s very well, but my big problem is being told to do so. Especially if it doing so saves a few quid and, potentially, means someone’s lost their job.

I don’t need Mr Cameron’s Big Society plan to tell me how powerful people can be when they work together. Come to this village and you’ll see, we’ve been doing it for years. In fact, all over the country parents do stuff like this for their children, both to set an example and to ensure they can benefit. And we managed to think it up all by ourselves.

The thing is, I’m a bit contrary about stuff like this. I really don’t like to be told that what I’ve been doing for years is a good idea and I should jolly well keep doing it. So, Mr Cameron, for the sake of society, Big or small, stop patronising parents who’ve been doing this stuff for years. Leave us alone and we’ll be doing it long after your lot are just another chapter in Westminster’s history.