People are understandably suspicious of big, centralised governments – government by people based a long way away from them, who seem disconnected from their lives and concerns. Instead there is a movement to give local people more control over what goes on in their area. The trouble with this is that people will always choose to protect their local interests over those of the wider group. Take energy: no one wants wind farms, fracking, solar power units or any sort of power station near them. It is always local groups that fight to stop them being built. Highly localised politics is not the solution. By ensuring that each small group wins its own little local battle, we are guaranteeing that everyone loses.