The Cones Hotline vindicated?

I've just seen BBC News: The cones hotline's legacy... which looks at the legacy of "probably the most ridiculed policy ever to be introduced by a British government." And it comes out rather better than the years of ridicule and myth would imply. It suggests that John Major's drive to give ordinary citizens a voice in public services has been vindicated by more recent government plans and proposals, with the aim of citizen empowerment now a part of the political consensus.

So John Major can have the last laugh on this one!