Earlier this year, a book by political thinker and Anglican theologian Phillip Blond was published called Red Tory: How Left And Right Have Broken Britain And How We Can Fix It.

His solution can be summed up by the old John Lennon mantra: power to the people.

Empowering ordinary people to make up for the ideologically-driven mistakes of central government and repairing “broken Britain” was part of Conservative Party leader David Cameron’s General Election strategy.

The business of setting up a coalition government, however, appeared to relegate the Big Society idea to the category of what the Prime Minister would like to do in an ideal world.

Now he has made it clear that the Big Society is central to his idea of what an ideal world would be like.

Referring to a range of people he met on his travels up and down Britain, including community activists and entrepreneurs, the Prime Minister said: “…it’s clear to me there is a real hunger out there to do more – to take on more responsibility and have more control. So I ask…What powers do you want? What more do you want to be able to do?”

David Cameron has described his Big Society drive as his “great passion”.

In a speech in Liverpool, he said groups should be able to run post offices, libraries, transport services and shape housing projects.

He said the concept would be a “big advance for people power”.

He said giving individuals and communities more control over their destinies was something that had underpinned his philosophy since he became Conservative leader in 2005.

Four areas are getting the chance to test the idea: Eden Valley in Cumbria, Windsor and Maidenhead, Sutton in London and Liverpool.

But what do community activists and entrepreneurs in Bradford think about the Big Society?

Bradford Cathedral’s Canon Frances Ward has spent a good deal of her four years here putting greater social engagement into practice.

She said: “I think there’s something to be said for doing politics in a new way because we have been over-regulated by central government. Phillip Blond is talking about getting more decisions taken locally where it counts.

“But I am suspicious that the Big Society might be a way of further marginalising people who have nothing.

“Institutions, such as Rotary, faith communities and Bradford Civic Society, run with truthfulness, bring people together and can build a critical mass, which is the beginning of political action, but you need good governance within these groups to enable things to happen.”

Robert Fleming, former director of and current shareholder in Saltaire-based Pace, the hi-tech electronics company, is one of those entrepreneurs referred to by David Cameron.

A former RAF medic for 11 years, including a five-month tour in the Falklands in 1982, he is a self-made multi-millionaire who would love to see David Cameron’s Big Society idea come to fruition, but he has his doubts.

He said: “I think there might be a lot of desire for it, but people are so used to state interference, it’s hard to believe social empowerment can exist without an army of bureaucrats behind you making sure you are spending money the way the Government wants you to.

“What you need is people who organise things in local communities, in spite of difficulties put on them by the council and health and safety, who are given more power. You don’t want outsiders training up and coming in to take over.

“There’s a community housing association in Buttershaw (Royds Community Association). Some of what they have done is terrific. They are the focus of that community.

“If you ask people to do things they are capable of doing, and encourage them, it can be amazing what can be achieved. When it works, community empowerment can be very powerful, but it’s a very big step from here to there.”

John Tempest is best known for creating and directing the Bradford Soup Run.

He said: “If what Mr Cameron says is true, we welcome his ideals; but only if he takes notice of what the people are saying and puts into action what he has promised.

“This is a golden opportunity for him and the country to make a difference by harnessing the talents of local people for local issues that matter to them.

“Where are all the people who have retired, who have experience and knowledge? I have no compunction whatsoever in calling on somebody who can help me in what I am trying to achieve.”