Fighting for a Free Future, Two Years On
This project isn’t about making you angry. It is about creating the conditions for a substantial, lasting change for the better. Goodness knows we need it.
This Substack began as a solo effort when I lost my seat in July 2024. A supporter told me I should have a think tank. After reflecting for a day, I replied that we have plenty of quality think tanks, but there is a need to support them in having greater impact. That is the project we embarked upon: not a think tank, but a means of amplifying think tanks and other voices for freedom.
We think this project is important. We would like you to be a part of it.
Ours is not a crisis only of incompetent politicians. It is a crisis of ideas.
For decades, we have had government spending consistently greater than revenue, yet with taxes at excruciating levels. The national debt is so large, servicing it is dwarfing a number of key functions of government. Regulations are extensive and minute, clogging the life out of the economy.
No one can look at the facts and seriously claim this is a crisis of laissez-faire.
No - this is a crisis of interventionism: the managerial state which was established after the world wars is now failing. It cannot afford the promises which have been made, promises rarely met at the quality anyone demands. Decades of easy money kept the show on the road, but that approach created the global financial crisis, a crisis whose response has now put us in the biggest bubble in history.
People find they do the right things, but still can’t secure a great job, afford a decent home and start a family. That is a recipe for despair and upheaval.
Simply electing better politicians is no answer. Until the terrain of debate has shifted so that it is politically profitable to adopt the policies of a free society, even good people will do the wrong thing in office: that is how the incentives of elections work.
That is why we are not involved in electoral politics. It is why we do not promote candidates or parties. It is time to move upstream: great ideas precede sound action. We don’t care who is elected, so long as they advance the principles of a free society.
We don’t do research
This project does no original research. As Stephen Fry memorably said:
“An original idea. That can’t be too hard. The library must be full of them.”
Indeed it is. And not just the libraries, but the archives of the UK’s great freedom-oriented think tanks too.
That’s why our strategy is not to produce original research. It is to identify great ideas wherever they may be found, and promote them
We are inspired by Leonard Read’s famous lecture, “How to advance liberty” and Hayek’s essay “The Intellectuals and Socialism”. We draw on ideas as diverse as tech marketing (“Crossing the Chasm”) and behavioural science (MINDSPACE). We recognise that until the elite who determine the territory of mainstream debate change their minds about what ought to be fashionable to think, our civilisation is headed for immense trouble.
And you might be part of that elite. We don’t mean only politicians, though politicians count. We include civil servants, lawyers, judges, scientists and engineers, teachers and doctors, commentators and everyone to whom someone else turns, however absent-mindedly, for opinion.
Our work is patient, personal and relentlessly committed to making the ideas and actions of a free society attractive, not only correct. We are about amplifying great quality ideas and great quality voices for freedom.
The method: shoaling, not shouting
One lone backbench MP bellowing into the void changes nothing. Goodness knows I tried that. A network of people insisting on a message or idea exerts much more power. Ideas rise and wane: today we must remorselessly insist it is the managerial state which is failing and that our society long since abandoned the principles of a free society to the notion that a far-off elite are better able to run our lives than we ourselves.
We are trying to catalyse a kind of shoaling or flocking. We can’t command anyone to do anything, and we would not want to. We can show people where like-minded people are headed today and invite them to join us. Just as we invite you.
Our community connects partner think tanks to amplify one another, often by sharing reinforcing ideas and research. Our podcast, Substack, and events provide a platform for voices for freedom. Our educational programmes such as our Book Club and Leaders for Liberty Fellowship equip young professionals with the skills and connections they need to advance liberty in their work. And you are welcome to enjoy our merch.
We don’t measure success by election results - we are not involved in elections - but by the shifting terrain of debate. We asked who would be the UK’s Milei. Accepting the UK needs the kind of dramatic shift towards liberty that Argentina is having, Kemi Badenoch rose to the challenge, declaring that she wants to be Britain’s Milei. We are happy if every politician rises to the invitation to promote freedom resolutely.
Our test is not whether we have been proven right in a barely-read article. It is whether we have helped make the case for freedom interesting, credible and socially acceptable amongst the governing elite.
Our fight for a free future is succeeding
We achieved three days of national media coverage for our hard launch last autumn - almost unheard of without riding on breaking news. We have packed meeting rooms with think tankers, parliamentarians and journalists to hear about the ideas of a free society. And we have engaged with freedom-oriented organisations and institutions in the UK and USA. Our network is expanding as we seek to serve.
Our donors have made possible our events, podcast, panel of authors, educational programmes and network. We could not do it without you nor without those who subscribe to our Substack Voices for a Free Future, watch on YouTube and who like, share and subscribe on all our channels.
Thank you!
What you can do
The scale of our task is astronomical and urgent. Debt is overrunning the public finances, yet public services are too often not good enough. The consequences of generations of chronic inflation are only barely becoming understood. Appealing for more active state remains the default among policymakers, journalists and the commentariat. Freedom under law with virtue, tolerance of irreconcilable difference and faith in spontaneous order, the realistic hope of a better future by our own efforts, and a state which at least punishes crime and defends the nation - these are the ideas which have gone by the board and which must urgently be recovered.
Advocates of greater state power will never concede that it is in fact expansive state power which is failing us all. The argument will be won by new voices creating a new weather in which those willing to adopt a new perspective will be drawn our way. The dial will turn.
You can help us and be part of this movement for better ideas informing practical action. Please support our educational programmes by becoming a paid subscriber, directly donating a small amount, or by buying some of our merchandise. Larger donors are more than welcome to get in touch directly with us.
Come to an event, or even just like, subscribe, and share our content. Our ideas will spread with your help.
Together we can and must win the fight for a free future before the next crisis of state power overwhelms us. Please join us in that battle.
