The Conservatives’ pernicious reign, defined by a toxic belief in self-organising markets, has brought Britain to its knees. But we now have an opportunity to turn things around – by reimagining the UK as a ‘we’ society rather than an ‘I’ society
If there is any consensus in our otherwise fractured, toxic national debate it is that we cannot go on like this. Our economy is in crisis, exemplified by an annual £100bn shortfall in public and private investment, which must be lifted decisively for Britain to break out of today’s triple whammy of stagnant growth, productivity and living standards. Society reels from alarming gaps in the provision of crucial public services and the yawning unfairness in the distribution of income, wealth and opportunity. Our democracy and state seem incapable of acknowledging the full extent of these deformities, let alone adequately responding to them. Our international standing has plummeted at a time of geopolitical peril. A transformative response is an imperative. My new book, This Time No Mistakes: How to Remake Britain, tries to address the origins of this interlinked crisis – and offer a feasible way out. Nothing is immutable. We are agents of our own destiny.
The heart of the problem is a misconception about how capitalism and society work. Capitalism must be managed and regulated to work for the common good, just as society has to be curated to provide fairness and opportunity for all. Crucially, the vitality of the two are interdependent. Capitalism must be organised so it provides economic ladders that every individual can climb while a social contract must offer a floor below which they cannot fall. Britain’s problem is that the Conservative party, in power for all but 13 of the last 45 years, does not accept these truths or interdependencies. Worse, even if it did, neither the dominant culture and practise of our capitalism, nor the structure of our democracy, state and media would have made it easy to fashion the necessary responses.
