David Cameron’s idea of the “big society” has been widely derided. It is commonly seen – even by other Tory politicians – as a way of dressing up public-sector cuts. One anonymous Conservative MP described it as “complete crap”. Another, David Davis, summed up his colleagues’ basic position. “The corollary of the big society is the smaller state,” he said. “If you talk about the small state, people think that you are Attila the Hun. If you talk about the big society, they think that you are Mother Teresa.”
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