6 May 2010 Dear Chief Secretary, I’m afraid there is no money. With regards – and good luck! Labour Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liam Byrne’s note to his Conservative successor. That was Labour’s legacy to the Conservative-led coalition government of 2010: “I’m afraid there is no money.” It’s always […]
Read MoreThis weekend, we relaunch the expanded European Research Group (ERG) of Conservative MPs, which I chair. I am proud that ERG Vice Chair Suella Fernandes MP has taken the lead. For the Telegraph, Suella writes ‘Britain must untie itself from EU shackles by using Brexit to leave the customs union’. […]
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I feel sure I can claim the support of everyone if I write that the planning system should promote prosperity. I am certain those operating the system work diligently within the rules with that noble intent in mind. However, over the past few years, I have seen a number of instances […]
Read MoreI’ve been asked to publish my speech at the launch of Politeia’s The UK and the EU: what must change? by Bernard Jenkin, Sir William Cash and John Redwood. I did not have a script: this is a close parallel of the main substance of my remarks. In 2007, a British MP visited the […]
Read MoreAs the Legatum Institute’s Prosperity Index repeatedly shows, entrepreneurship and opportunity are the primary keys to overall prosperity. It is because life in society is a creative dynamic process of discovering how best to serve the needs of other people and to adjust to them. If we are to become the […]
Read MorePolitical radicals are in the news, especially in Greece and now Spain. In the midst of tragic suffering, people are being seduced by the curse of easy answers. State socialism has always aimed at a spectacular improvement in the average person’s standard of living. It is a noble intention which […]
Read MoreThe Legatum Institute’s Prosperity Index 2014 was launched yesterday: the UK rises three places this year and we are the most prosperous of all the major EU nations. Even the quickest glance at our rankings and the map which puts them in stark context must make anyone glad indeed to […]
Read MoreTwo years ago, I attended a two-day Liberty Fund conference on Magna Carta. Today, I was glad to join The Freedom Association to commemorate the 799th anniversary of Magna Carta at the memorial. Here’s an extended version of my speech: Seven hundred and ninety nine years ago today this place […]
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The latest figures from the Government’s Work Programme are now available. The positive data show that the Programme continues to support the long term unemployed into meaningful employment: More than 208,000 of our hardest to help jobseekers have escaped long term unemployment and found lasting work – normally at least six […]
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A fascinating video from PovertyCure on aid and enterprise: I particularly identified with: Having a heart for the poor isn’t hard. We have a mind for the poor. We will never reconcile all opinion about how to help the poor but there is far more unity than is generally believed over […]
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