Freedom at last

摘要

Last April David Cameron made a final plea to voters, who were then about to decide whether their cities should have elected mayors. "Britain stands on the brink of exciting democratic change," cajoled the prime minister. "This is a once-in-a-generation chance to change the way we run our country." Voters firmly rejected excitement. Of the ten big cities holding referendums last May only one, Bristol, plumped for an elected mayor. That crushing defeat seemed to stop the government's drive to devolve power from Britain's overmighty central state. In some ways Westminster seems to have slipped back into centralism. Eric Pickles, the local government secretary, issues diktats about rubbish collection.