Michael Gove is the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities, and the Conservative MP for Surrey Heath. This is his foreword to Onward’s new paper ‘A Conservative Economy: Building a fairer and more productive nation’, published today, available here.
Conservatism has always evolved. Thinkers from Michael Oakeshott to Sir Roger Scruton have painted conservatism as more of an attitude than a set of beliefs; an approach towards politics and the world, rather than a doctrinal set of policies.
In truth it is both a disposition and a set of core beliefs. A disposition towards pragmatism over ideology, established wisdom over rashness, respect for institutions over revolutionary upheaval, love of the local over the universal.
But it also upholds core beliefs and commitments, such as the centrality of the nation state, the importance of place, private property, the dignity and value of work, and the essential role of the family. These core values must guide us as conservatives when thinking about the future of the British economy.
In the second report in Onward’s Future of Conservatism series, published today, Gavin Rice and Nick Timothy make a rigorous and persuasive case for a new vision of economic policy that is both pioneering in breaking new ground and well-established in its heritage.
As we consider how to build on the successes of the last 14 years, and address a world grown more challenging, their contribution to the debate merits serious consideration; they lay out a programme which distils conservative economic thinking from the level of principle and applies it to the world we live in today.
It calls for the boldness and innovation exemplified by Margaret Thatcher – but repurposed for new challenges. It identifies the problems Britain now faces in a fast-changing world, and offers solutions.
These challenges are many, starting with accelerating growth, as Thatcher did so successfully. But the diagnosis and solutions to the growth challenges are, rightly, differently. The economic challenges ahead are those of the mid-21st Century, not those of 1975.
Thanks to Thatcher’s reforms, Britain is no longer held back by inefficient nationalised industries, top income tax rates of over 80 per cent, or powerful and militant trade unions. Worryingly, Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party appears intent on extending nationalisation, raising tax, and handing more power to the unions to restrict employment flexibilities.
So we need to make the case against the drift back to socialism and permanently lower growth with renewed vigour.
But we also need to renew the case for markets and capitalism, recognising there is more to do to bolster manufacturing, guarantee energy security, incentivise investment in innovation, and extend home ownership. We must argue for markets properly reformed so they work free of vested interest.
Growth from productive investment, and the jobs this creates, are distinct from rentierism or the predatory capitalism of acquisition over production. Conservatives must always be the party of work, home and family – not the speculator, proprietor, or rapacious asset manager.
Britain has some of the best companies, best universities, best innovation and the most talented people in the world. Much progress has been made on unleashing their potential over the last decade, but more progress is required as we level up our whole country.
We need more investment in infrastructure to better connect all our communities. We need to deal with the root causes of higher energy costs which erode real incomes. We need to go further in regenerating the great cities and towns of the North and Midlands. And build many more homes for the next generation.
Globalisation, for all its challenges, can be made to work better for Britain. As a source of positive, productive overseas investment, and as a source of markets for Britain’s brilliant exporters of goods and services. It should advance the prosperity of our nation state, rather than being a force for its erosion.
With the right policies, we can go even further in generating productivity growth and rising living standards. We can strengthen energy security, geographically rebalance and increase the quality of jobs across the country. We can become the best place in the world to invest and grow a business, and most importantly of all somewhere where anyone can afford to put down roots and start a family.
And that means maintaining the fiscal discipline Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt have delivered. We must ensure Britain continues to live within its means, rather than borrowing for day-to-day expenditure – or to cut taxes.
We need also to fix our demographics, get inactive people back into work, boost our productivity and growth, and reduce the demand for welfare spending. If more of our country can stand economically on its own two feet, the need for redistribution will fall.
Some of the most exciting economic thinkers and writers of our generation have outlined how we can develop a truly inclusive economic vision. In recent years Dani Rodrik, Angus Deaton, and Oren Cass have all written brilliantly on how national political economy can once again be made to work for sovereign nations, placing growth and fairness together at the centre of democratic policy making.
Truly free and fair markets, operating under the democratic governance of nations operating in the interests of their citizens, are the surest route to prosperity. Democratic politics is on a constant mission to reform, refine, and improve markets in the service of humanity. This has been true for all of modern economic history, and it’s true now.
This new report lays out a vision for a radical, reformed approach towards British economic policy. It makes an invaluable contribution to the conversation we need to have about Britain’s next steps forward. I look forward to the debate it will stimulate.
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Author: Michael Gove MP
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