Market stalled

Donald Thomson (Letters, 4 July) tells us the Conservative party is not in thrall to “Neo-liberalism”. Neo-liberals believe human progress is only made when people conform to the self organising logic of the market.

Hinkley Point is an example of Neo-liberal thinking. Hinckley Point is a hugely expensive nuclear reactor which will massively drive up electricity prices when it comes on stream.

The project has been heavily criticised by experts who claim that this strategically important project could have been had at a much lower cost if government had considered taking a stake in it. Instead future generations will be saddled by an expensive albatross – a monument to Neoliberalism.

Recently, the Conservatives conceded they should not leave it all to markets – so we actually now have an industrial strategy. The H2 railway is an example of that change. It has been criticised for being an unambitious project. What’s needed is spending on the transport infrastructure of the whole Northern pow- erhouse –not one railway line.

Theresa May has promised to create apprenticeships: but to replace the impending loss of European immigrants she needs ten times more money. When George Osborne brought in austerity he based his decision on the claims of Harvard University economists that austerity would boost growth.

A few years later that scholarship had been criticised as flawed. The result? The conviction that austerity would mend the roof was now based on Neo-liberal convictions alone. Now Michael Gove tells us we need to ease up on it. Wait a minute, isn’t austerity absolutely vital? Does he want the roof to fall in? Is this just another of his reckless gambles? You may think austerity, at least, is pragmatic in that it plays safe, but let’s not obscure reality. The Conservatives have been Neo-liberals. Only by knowing where we have been can we decide where we go next. Change requires accurate appraisal.

ANDREW VASS Corbiehill Place, Edinburgh