Making the case for conservatism
Less than a week before the general election and Michael Fallon, the Defence Secretary, tells this newspaper that a re-elected Tory government will not raise income taxes on any wage bracket. This is good news: it casts a clear contrast with Labour, which would damage the economy by taxing high earners to pay for a spending splurge. It is also the sort of thing the Conservatives should have been saying from the start. This election has boiled down to a choice between socialism and capitalism. The Tories must use the final few days to make the case for liberty.
Jeremy Corbyn is not shy in talking about what he believes in. We disagree strongly with it, of course. He would take this country back to the Seventies, to high taxes, rampant unions and financial ruin. Asked in a radio interview how much his childcare pledge would cost, he struggled to remember. Asked by a magazine how he would reduce the debt faced by some students, he said: “I don’t have the simple answer for it at this stage.” Mr Corbyn’s election campaign is writing cheques that the country cannot possibly cash. But if the polls are at all right and his support is indeed climbing then it might be due to his optimism. The public is far less receptive to the politics of fear. That was tried in the Scottish referendum and was judged a failure; in the EU referendum it totally backfired. So, it is not enough to criticise the Corbyn plan. There has to be a compelling alternative.
How about conservatism? The case for it has already been made by this government’s record. The Tories inherited a country with high unemployment and financial chaos. Mr Corbyn is right to say that conditions today are still difficult, but they are a lot better than they were in 2010 – thanks to Conservative economic medicine. Corporation tax rates are down and yet corporation tax receipts are at an all-time high. The highest rate of income tax was cut and yet the top 1 per cent of earners now pay 28 per cent of all income taxes. It is the incomes of the lowest paid that have risen the fastest. And far from public sector cuts triggering a recession, there has been a boom in private sector hiring. What is truly frustrating is that all the while that capitalism has been working its magic, politicians have been talking up the evils of income disparity and the benefits of state intervention. If Mr Corbyn is doing better than expected, it is because the fundamentals of his philosophy have been endorsed by too many Tories who should have known better.
Happily, the Prime Minister has identified the means to change this debate: Brexit. She has spoken of the opportunity to build a country that is “more global and outward-looking. A Britain alive with possibilities.” This is key. The militant Remainers, represented by the Lib Dems’ dwindling poll figures, would stick with a protectionist bloc. Mr Corbyn backs Brexit but would import all the regulations and rules from the EU that make it so uncompetitive. It is up to the Conservatives to weave a vision of a country where regulation is light-touch and where lower taxes encourage savings, investments and risk. A country at the centre of the world, trading and partnering with far-flung nations. A Britain that recognises that solutions lie not in state intervention but the state getting out of people’s way – to let them innovate and build.
If young people need higher wages, the solution is lower taxes. If they need houses, then abolish stamp duty and get building. The UK should be leading the world by proving the benefits of a smaller yet stronger state, a state renewed by the return of sovereignty from Europe – just as Thatcherism in the Eighties once heralded the return of a serious world power from which other countries learnt a great deal.
Socialism cannot compete with capitalism on its historical record. Many readers will find it astonishing that the philosophy they thought they saw buried in 1989 has resurfaced – represented not by a fresh new face but, improbably, by one of the old guard itself. This challenge has to be met – not with fear but with hope. These last few days are a chance to make it clear what kind of future the Tories hope to build. It should be a future where everyone, regardless of background, can imagine themselves working hard and reaping the rewards.