1989 and all that

7th May 2009: Blog by Richard Spring MP, Member of Parliament for West Suffolk

 

I urge you to read Compassionate Economics by Jesse Norman (Policy Exchange publications), our prospective parliamentary candidate in Hereford. It is beautifully written and essential reading for these times.

 

One of the Sunday newspapers had a supplement on what they described as the year that changed our world. Undoubtedly that was true, although for rather different reasons I hope that 2010 will be a repeat, even if for purely domestic reasons.

 

What is curious about 2009, twenty years on, is that confidence in the police is down sharply, we do not feel financially better off, satisfaction with living standards has dropped, we like our jobs less and we are less prepared to pay for the environment. In other words, we are clearly less happy. Yet in that time the role of the state has expanded enormously – everything from criminal to environmental legislation has mushroomed, so have job place rules and regulations, and an even more comprehensive welfare state. Yet violent crime has soared, individuals’ dysfunctionality has grown and social liberalism has produced some unwelcome by-products, particularly impacting the stability of children’s lives.

 

There are always good individual reasons advanced for further state involvement in our lives. Obsession with targets has demoralised teachers, nurses and police officers. Stealth taxes nibble away and create a bureaucratic morass.

 

If the road to hell is paved with good intentions, then this appears to be Britain in 2009.

 

The recession does not help, of course. But I cannot help but think that the octopus like growth of Big Brother in all its manifestations has made us much less content. However there is so much to be happy and proud about.

 

And if you want to understand all of this more, I urge you to read Compassionate Economics by Jesse Norman (Policy Exchange publications), our prospective parliamentary candidate in Hereford. It is beautifully written and essential reading for these times.

 

Richard Spring MP Blog


 

 

 


What they say about Compassionate Economics

 

"With economics now being the number one policy debate in Britain, every politico on the left, right or centre of British politics should read this book over Christmas." -- Matthew Elliiott, ConservativeHome

 

"Reading your article in the FT was a "eureka" moment for me. Thank you." -- Robert P.

 

"Compassionate Economics is an outstanding book and I thoroughly recommend it. It should appeal to anyone interested in a mature political and economic analysis, which yields practical suggestions for making our country better." -- David M.

 

"The most intelligent political tract of 2009... rich and rewarding text .... beautifully written... Jesse Norman, currently the Conservative candidate for Hereford, has marked himself out as one of the giants of the next parliamentary intake. Don't take my word for it; read his book." -- Daniel Hannan

 

"It is beautifully written and essential reading for these times. -- Richard Spring MP

 

What they said about Compassionate Conservatism

 

"The book everyone in Westminster is talking about" -- The Observer

 

"Superb" -- Andrew Sullivan, US political commentator and noted blogger

 

"A glimpse of the future of British Conservatism" -- Adrian Wooldridge, co-author of The Right Nation

 

"At once profound and accessible, this book is rewarding reading for anyone interested in political ideas, and indispensable to those on the centre right. It provides the first philosophical definition of the new 21st Century conservatism"
Charles Moore, Daily Telegraph columnist and biographer of Lady Thatcher

 

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