Britain's Great Leap Backwards

We have sold the family silver and are about to tear out the copper piping too. If we continue along our current path, Manchesterism may make this Britain’s century of humiliation.

We often hear the phrase ‘you get the government you deserve.’ I contend we also get the ‘economist we deserve’. Gary Stevenson is a symptom of the time we live in -- nothing more, nothing less. There is little appetite amongst the great British public for a thorough understanding of the structural problems facing the economy. In an age where many people get their ‘education’ from 20-second TikTok clips, we need to present a clear, concise message to counter the widespread simplification of taxes, wealth, and debt.

As Lord Hannan himself pointed out on a recent Economic Affairs podcast: “Two clicks can verify if [something] is true... and yet nobody wants to do those two clicks. They’d rather nurse their grudges.”

There is no ‘honest misunderstanding’ anymore, just people clinging to their prejudices. This is most exemplified in the wilful ignorance of senior political figures: “Bond Markets will have to fall into line.” It’s one thing when language like this is uttered by some bewildered backbencher; it’s another when you have incoming political leadership (Burnham et al.); stewards of this nation; throwing around pseudo-economic platitudes such as ‘good growth’ as serious policy points. How in God’s good name is this meant to encourage or entice investors? At a time when external investment is at an alarming low, companies are fleeing the London Stock Exchange, further prospect of tax hikes are already scaring investors, and now those same investors are worried that their ‘growth’ might not be deemed the right type; how does this inspire confidence?

For a man preaching ‘Manchesterism’ as the beacon to follow through Britain’s current Dark Night of the Soul, Burnham seems to conveniently leave out the importance of neo-liberalism in much of its success. As Maxwell Marlow from the Adam Smith Institute pointed out on his recent appearance on Radio 4, “What we’ve seen in Manchester is quite a lot of Neo-Liberalism. Removing a lot of regulations and obligations on developers, to build up the amazing skyline Manchester has now. He has removed much of the social housing requirements, the affordable-housing requirements; he has worked very closely with the private sector.”

Public ownership costs, or indeed the consequences of ‘greater public control’, are not being fully discussed. No one is thinking about the secondary effects of all of this. These are not long-term solutions, but band-aids on an already gaping wound. Reindustrialisation is being tossed about by figures (from most parties) as some sort of definitive answer to all our woes. The government has now fully nationalised British Steel, which, according to the National Audit Office, is already costing British Taxpayers £1.3m per day. It all feels a bit Groundhog Day?

Luckily, the Overton Window is starting to shift. It is most notable when you are witnessing bedfellows as strange as Tony Blair, claiming ‘the state is too big.’ There is now a huge opportunity for someone with the chutzpah to grab the bull by the horns and really push this message to the masses.

Now more than ever we need a bold vision. Many voted for Brexit with the vision of a deregulated Britain, a thriving economy free from the shackles of European overreach; one which could capitalise on our already comparative advantage of the services industry. Sadly, this never materialised the way many of us foresaw. But one can still hope that the baton can be picked up by those with the political will and daring to do so.

It’s important to note that London’s status is not fixed. Dubai was little more than a desert 50 years ago. Singapore was little more than a backwater. Cultural capital is important, but it’s not enough to ensure long-term prosperity.

Yes, stagnation is not a problem unique to this country. It’s an existential question nearly all Western democracies are currently racing to answer. But if we give up on growth, we give up on Britain. I am no economist and never claim to be; but anyone who can see past their own hubris should be able to realise the economic miracle that is the city of London. We need to build on this. Not try and rewire it. It’s about trust, simple as that. As a colleague from the IEA recently remarked to me - “there’s a reason why no one buys Zimbabwean bonds...”

The state is not merely underperforming; it is structurally imbalanced. If we fail to address this properly, we will prolong the current malaise we are in and deepen the risk that this becomes Britain’s century of humiliation. We have sold the family silver and are about to tear out the copper piping too.

Robert Dalton is an MA student of Modern History at King's College London, a former Conservative Councillor Candidate, and an incoming intern at the Institute of Economic Affairs.