‘This eternal tension is between a belief in personal freedom and a belief in the good that government can do. You will retort that one can believe in both, and you are right.’
Matthew Parris, The Times
I don't always agree with Matthew Parris, but his commentary in last Saturday’s edition of The Times sums up the challenge for those who believe in both individual freedom and a fairer society: none of the political parties offer this combination, which is what most of us believe in. But there is a solution — it's called egalitarian capitalism.
The Conservatives have done little towards providing individual freedom for young people, and their attempts at providing a fairer society through ‘levelling-up’ have been symbolic at best. Labour still regard socialism as their underpinning doctrine, notwithstanding the clear evidence that universal welfare undermines the extent of targeted support which can be provided for the most disadvantaged: hence our commentary, ‘Say farewell to socialism, Sir Keir’ on 10th June. The other parties on offer for 4th July are a motley crew, mainly preferring big government (the Liberal Democrats and the Greens). Meanwhile Mr. Farage is building up his bank balance in his private company Reform Ltd. while continuing to appeal to people's worst instincts.
The problem is that egalitarian capitalism requires a long-term perspective, and democratic processes are essentially short-term. It takes real leadership to inspire people with visions for the future over the coming decades, and we are presented with a bunch of managers like Sunak and lawyers like Starmer. Richard Higginson's book, ‘Transforming Leadership’, draws the contrast between leaders and managers really well: where are the former today?
The Americans will be asking the same question, after the awful spectacle of Trump and Biden last Friday morning (2 am, UK time). Surely the nation which inspired that movie ‘No country for old men’ must realise that they need new inspiration and leadership for the future. To quote an extract from the movie’s Wikipedia title commentary by Richard Gillmore, ‘ One has the sense that things are out of alignment, that balance and harmony are gone from the land and from the people’.
Egalitarian capitalism is a comparatively simple concept to provide, but it needs determination and a long-term resolve:
Firstly, in order to provide young people from low-income, disadvantaged and refugee backgrounds with the resources and life skills to achieve their potential in adult life. The combination of starter capital accounts and incentivised learning, which has been set in motion for young people in care throughout the United Kingdom by The Share Foundation, provides a strong example of what can be achieved if it’s inspired by a determination to break the cycle of deprivation.
This has major potential to reset the future, providing for both individual freedom and real economic prospects for these young people. We've heard lots about National Service and VAT on school fees during the election period: let's hear more about hypothecating just a small, but growing, percentage of the £7.5 billion of Inheritance Tax receipts. The work already underway with young people in care will then show how this can be achieved on a wider basis.
It's not just about education: it affects the health service, where young people struggling to make a start in life pay heavily through their taxes for the health care of wealthy old folk. It would also have a big impact on DWP and local authorities, and many other departments of government.
The burden borne by young people is unacceptably high, saddling them with student debt for up to three decades and denying them the opportunity to establish their own home. That's why inter-generational rebalancing is such a vital part of egalitarian capitalism.
Secondly, we need to tackle the persistent increase in wealth concentration generated by the tech giants through harvesting people’s data and creativity. As with measures to address climate change, this requires an international perspective. ‘Stock for Data’ receives regular attention in these commentaries — the most recent being on 17th June, following the Pope's G7 intervention on artificial intelligence.
This particularly needs focus due to the increasing attention being given to universal basic income, which would deny the prospect of individual freedom to all whose employment opportunities are replaced by automation. Our alternative ‘Stock for Data’ approach of participation for all would provide equity stock holdings in return for harvesting data and creativity by tech giants: this would give people a share in the capital gain and dividend flow, and provide some influence over the journey that mass automation will take in future.
Research and planning for this approach is making good progress, but has a long way to go. Government and regulators need to include it in their forward planning, not just in the United Kingdom but also from that global perspective.
Within the next few days there will be a new Government in Westminster, with many new faces in the House of Commons. However, one of the great benefits of the British system is that a degree of continuity is provided by the Civil Service: something that Sir Keir Starmer will respect. While they will certainly be looking at the new set of Ministers for direction, they do provide an assurance of stability throughout the handover. Hopefully, it will also provide the opportunity to take a serious look at egalitarian capitalism, in order to see how the dual ambitions of individual freedom and fairness for all, especially the young, can be provided.
So, while Matthew Parris describes himself as a somewhat reluctant Conservative voter in the interest of ensuring a competent opposition, I will continue to seek to move the new Government away from its socialist philosophy towards egalitarian capitalism.
Gavin Oldham OBE
Share Radio