Politicians must trust in the courage and character of the people they serve
Britain is in a toxic relationship with big government. It’s making us miserable. People are working harder, paying taxes, yet see decaying public services and disorder in the streets. To some, this is proof that Britain is broken.
This isn’t a broken country. It’s an extraordinary one, saddled with failing big government. There is no better moment to walk away before the big state promises to change, swears this time will be different
and asks for even more money.
I’m tired of this misery, the endless negativity, the doom and gloom. I love this country. Britain is a place where dreams come true — the British dream, where ingenuity and creativity are revered, no one takes themselves too seriously, and where a people remain at ease with themselves, proud of their traditions and alive to the possibilities of the future. But big government is choking that dream.
A country is defined by its people. Britain is full of capable, decent, resourceful people. We are not broken, but we are being smothered by a toxic relationship that treats government as the answer to everything. It is what did for the Conservatives in government: we failed to place enough trust in the courage and character of the British public. That is what we need to do now.
The statists — Labour and Reform — trust themselves above everyone else. More welfare, more nationalisation: both parties have renewed their vows to big government, a guarantee that nothing will change. We will end up with more meddling, more spending which always, always means more tax. A burden already crushing the life out of our economy. Politicians convince themselves that the next government programme, spending package or announcement will finally do the trick.
Every so often the system throws out just enough to keep the faith alive: a subsidy here, a rebate there. A freeze, a grant, a rescue package. Never enough to solve the real problem, always enough to keep people hooked. The risk is a culture in which people stop asking: “Can I do this?” and start asking: “Why hasn’t the government done it for me yet?” That doesn’t just make our country poorer. It makes us feel smaller. Less confident. Less resilient. Less willing to take risks or trust our own judgment. Less willing to follow the dream.
On an LBC phone-in recently, a young man called in after struggling to find work following his degree. We talked about why: taxes on jobs, more red tape and a higher minimum wage mean businesses are so burdened they’ve stopped hiring. The state has pushed up the cost of taking a chance on someone at the start of their career. He understood the point. But then he asked me to press the government to provide more support for young people to get jobs.
That is the toxic relationship in miniature. Last year, government made it harder to hire
young people; this year, it’s offering a new scheme to soften the damage. Ministers announce a tax rise, then a subsidy to deal with the fallout — and around we go. The public are left asking government to help them escape a problem it created in the first place. At a business roundtable in Norfolk, employers told me they would not take up this latest government offer to hire young people on benefits. Not because they didn’t care, but because it wasn’t worth the bureaucracy, the hassle or the risk.
Saying no to more government is not an argument for cruelty — or every man for himself. That is the lazy caricature deployed whenever the big state is challenged. Britain did not become great because government sat at the centre of everything, issuing guidance notes and demanding impact assessments. It became great because free people were trusted to think, build, trade, discover and organise.
This is the great divide in politics today: how much do you trust the British public? What do you think of this country and its people? Labour and Reform assume we are “broken”, foolish or selfish. That we cannot cope without constant direction from the state. I am more optimistic. Government needs to do what only government can do — and then get out of the way. Once people remember what it feels like to make decisions for themselves, to keep more of what they earn, to rely on their own judgment, they will wonder why they ever accepted so little.
That’s why the Conservative Party isn’t announcing new schemes. We have plans to end this toxic big state. Drill in the North Sea, scrapping the pettifogging new employment “rights” Labour has dumped on business. Abolish stamp duty and pay for it by getting people off welfare. This will get Britain working again so we can have a stronger economy and a stronger country.
I understand why people are cynical. They were told the experts had it covered, that more tinkering would steady the ship, that a larger state would solve the problems a smaller one could not. What did they get instead? Higher bills, weaker services, slower growth.
Take Back Control was a great slogan. But in practice, too much of that control was handed to government, not to people. In Scotland and Wales, power devolved was power retained. It was all about politicians getting more involved in our lives — only this time from Holyrood or Cardiff Bay instead of Brussels.
Reversing this starts with a worldview. Do you look at Britain and see a broken, incompetent country? Or do you see a curious, creative and clever people denied the control they were promised? There is a huge amount of life in this country that has been smothered by bad assumptions, bad incentives and bad government. Lift the weight and you will be amazed how fast people move.
A freer country would feel different almost at once. More decisions made by the people living with the consequences. More of your own money left in your pocket. More power in the hands of families, communities and businesses. Fewer people standing in the way.
Under my leadership, the new Conservative Party is becoming more optimistic. We’re working towards the return of responsibility and a government that backs its people instead of managing their decline. Once people get a taste for that, once they remember what it feels like to live in a country that trusts them, they will not want to go back.
