Come on in, the water’s lovely

One of the difficult issues facing libertarians and even those conservatives with a strong individualistic bent is, how do we foster a culture of liberty in a country in which that culture has been under relentless attack? I often find myself coming up in discussion forums against the sort of “pragmatists” who argue that there is no point trying to foster such a culture and the best we can do is smuggle in policies under cover of something else. We must appeal to the soggy mainstream, whatever that is. I smell a rat about this way of thinking since it boils down to little more than a rationalisation for defeatism.

Charles Moore, former editor of the Daily Telegraph, thinks as I do in what is probably one of the best articles I have read in that publication for a long, long time (apart from anything by Mark Steyn, of course). He addresses head-on the idea that there is a “fear of liberty” in Britain, and asks how we address it. Above all, he says politicians need to offer a lead rather than chase focus groups, and show that by giving people more choice in their lives, they will acquire the confidence, happiness, and security they crave. Whether it is school vouchers, greater choice in health, control over pensions, voting for police chiefs or fostering greater wealth ownership, Moore argues that spreading liberty works in a virtuous upward circle. Even in small steps, it is possible to spread the freedom habit. The more liberty one has, the more one can face the challenges of life, and the more one can draw pride from achievement. He also relates his insights to the current worry about youthful loutish behaviour and the culture of yobbery and nihilism that is all-too common on our streets.

It is not a new argument, of course. The late Shirley Robin Letwin (mother of the current Tory politician, Oliver Letwin), made a rather similar point in her book, The Anatomy of Thatcherism. So, to a similar degree, has James Bartholomew in his The Welfare State We’re In, and Ferdinand Mount in another book about British society and culture.

I get the impression that in the fag end of the Blair years, we are starting to see the crystalisation of a libertarian-conservative approach to sorting out the consequences of the Welfare State and decades of trying to micromanage social ills. If the Tories are clever, they should spend the next few months sitting in the garden and doing some serious reading and thinking.

(more…)