The long train journey up to Aberdeenshire (see yesterday's post) gave me a chance to read the recent offering from five young Tory MPs, Kwasi Kwarteng et al, entitled Britannia Unchained, in which they set out a critique of the British economy, thoughts about the social and political sources of its weaknesses and suggestions of how experience in other countries could point the way to the sort of changes we need to make here if we are to recover our competitiveness in world markets.
I'm not a Tory but I knew Kwasi slightly, just over ten years ago, when we were studying economics together part-time at Birkbeck. This strengthened my determination to give the book a fair reading and not be put off by the advance press coverage - which made the authors look rather more rabid than does the book itself.
I found the book impressive, a good read, interesting and informative. Although there is a strong undercurrent of conservative mentality, there is interesting stuff about how, for instance, Canada emerged virtually unscathed from the financial crunch of 2008. The book tackles some real issues and I found much that I agreed with.
It is also, in my view, fundamentally flawed. When I searched my digital copy of it for the term "global warming", nothing was returned. When I searched on "climate change", it turned up one dismissive quote from a taxi driver. This was symptomatic of a basic weakness - an unstated and undefended assumption that "business as usual" can continue, in spite of what we need to do to tackle the risk of catastrophic climate change and in spite of the constraints imposed by a growing population and a finite supply of land, energy, fresh water and other essential resources.
To these young Tories, the fundamental challenge we face is not how we can bequeath to our grandchildren a planet that is capable of supporting them - as opposed to a planet that merely allows them lives that are nasty, brutish and short. That challenge is ignored. The book is about how we in Britain can get back to the serious business of making ourselves richer and maintain our place in international league tables.
True, there are some disparaging remarks about a few published works that address what I would regard as the real challenges. For instance, around the 5% mark in my Kindle edition, (which doesn't have page numbers):-
"Once again, the idea that growth is unsustainable is popular ... Even the three-day working week is seemingly back in fashion. The new economics foundation (nef) argues that instituting a 21-hour working week would help tackle 'overwork, unemployment, over-consumption, high carbon emissions, low well-being, [and] entrenched inequalities'.
"Britain has lost confidence in itself and what it stands for. Britain once ruled the Empire on which the sun never set. Now it can barely keep England and Scotland together. No wonder many have concluded that we would do better to accept a gentle retirement, and spend more time relaxing in the garden.
"Countries that are more confident ... are more respected on the world stage. They look to compete with the best in the world, rather than give in to internal squabbling or defeatism."
In other words, those who are seeking to tackle the threats of which science warns us are merely giving in to defeatism. Sustainability is for wimps. A glance through earlier postings in this blog will reveal how I and these young Tories are starting from very different positions.
There's lots more to say about this book but that will have to wait for future posts.
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