There is a huge gap at the heart of David Cameron's political philosophy. I call it Cameron's rather than the Conservative Party's because it is hard to imagine that those to the right of the party are wholly on board with his vision of a 'big society'. The manifesto invites ordinary citizens to play a more active role in the running of their communities. This would involve groups of teachers, parents and other volunteer groups establishing and running schools with state funding. Communities could take over and run pubs threatened with closure. A mere 5% of local support would be needed to trigger a referendum to veto council tax rises or planned transport initiatives. Cameron is relying on the society he calls broken to provide the solutions itself Cameron wants every adult to be a member of a community organisation. The thinking behind such manifesto pledges is that the state is too large and is not capable of solving every problem the nation faces. However, a rolling back of the ...