Will the cuts protests just make things worse?
The sight of up to 400,000 people on the streets of London protesting against public sector cuts was both encouraging and slightly tragic.
Encouraging in the sense that, in an age when we are all supposed to apathetic to what is going on around us, 400,000 people made the effort to protest in London.
The fact the trade unions were at pains to stress they wanted a peaceful protest, not the mob rule antics of the student protests from last year, was a point well made.
But as those 400,000 marched through the streets of London, it was hard not to ask yourself: What's the point? What can they achieve? Who is really going to benefit from this?
To answer the last question first: The only real winners out of the protest will be Ed Miliband and the trade union movement. Miliband's team ensured yesterday was about him distancing himself from the errors of the Labour government, instead aiming fire at the Tory government's cuts programme. In one sense, he'll be preaching to the choir.
The trade union movement, at the same time, finds itself in a tricky position. The government clearly isn't listening to it. Whereas under Labour, a kick-off from the unions would normally trigger a change in thought - in fact, a kick-off from anyone towards the latter end of Labour's years in charge guaranteed a rethink - the same can't be said of the coalition.
The sight of 400,000 people marching through London won't make David Cameron and Nick Clegg sit up and think 'Are we getting this right?' In fact, it'll probably have the opposite impact. The track record of the coalition government appears to be that criticism on the economy convinces them they are right.
Cameron, at around the time of the TUC conference in Manchester last September, alluded to the fact he wanted to work with the unions. Not much has been said on that since. It perhaps suits the unions to be at a distance from the discussions which are taking place about cuts.
But at the same time, if those doing the cuts aren't listening to traditional protests, then surely the trade unions also need to move their positions too. The cuts are coming, no two ways about that, so how about trying to minimise the impact of those cuts. A little less King Kanute, a little more Florence Nightingale.
Of course, that doesn't generate great headlines and big, glossy pictures for the annual reports. Trying to improve a bad situation rather than opposing it outright doesn't lead to barnstorming speeches on a stage. But it might just make things happen.
Councils find themselves in a similar position. The Manchester Evening News reported yesterday on communities secretary Eric Pickles' latest attack on Manchester City Council, perhaps the most vocal critic of the council spending cuts being dished out by Pickles' department. And no wonder, Manchester is among the cities to be hardest hit by the cuts.
Pickles is quoted as saying:
"You've got to look elsewhere in the country. Manchester has got to get over the idea it's being picked on. It isn't.
"It's not possible for me to nor would I have any desire to. Manchester is a very important city in the UK. I want to see it prosper and succeed but the way politicians have responded has been less than impressive."
Liverpool also could be forgiven for thinking it is being picked on, but the attitude from government towards the city is much positive than it is towards Manchester. Jim Hancock, writing in the Liverpool Daily Post last Monday, reports:
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles met Liverpool Council leader Joe Anderson recently and called him a "master craftsman". He clearly admired the political tactics around Liverpool's decision to pull out of the Big Society initiative, even if he disagreed with it.
Pickles had not been scheduled to attend a meeting between a Liverpool delegation and one of his junior ministers, but must have realised the government was losing the propaganda battle with the city.
Evidence of the rapprochement is in plentiful supply, ranging from the confident prediction by Liverpool's Chief Executive that the ocean liner terminal project will go ahead, to the warm welcome given to Business Minister Mark Prisk at the Town Hall on Friday.
Anderson is pursuing a twin track policy in relation to the government. Hammering them over the cuts (he's already working on a £60m economy programme for 2012-13) whilst emphasising that he wants to work with people like Mark Prisk over bringing jobs to the city.
In other words, Anderson isn't cutting Liverpool's nose off to spite its face. He's not giving in, but he's attempting to make the best of a bad situation.
The sight of 400,000 marching through London is commendable, but is it enough to force a change in thought from central government? And if not, who is the protest really for - those who want change, or the union leaders who want to look like they are doing something?
In town halls too, the time to stop grandstanding and start making the best of a bad situation has arrived.
It's a sad state of affairs, but with a government which won't listen to the counter opinion on the economy, it's the only option available.
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David Higgerson - David Higgerson has covered local and national politics for much of his career as a journalist. This blog aims to look at Westminister from the outside in, at a time when it appears very few are looking out from the inside.
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