Small government needs social reform

Interesting stuff from David Willetts in this morning's FT:

"Market reform has given Conservatism its excitement and its cutting edge over the past 25 years, and it can do so again. But that is not enough. By focusing ruthlessly on Britain's economic problems in the 1980s, we became for many people "the economics party". To this day, many Conservatives are most comfortable when we are talking about business, tax and privatisation.

But we should not just think about cutting the supply of government; we should also tackle the demand for government. A society of fragmented families and fractured lives is one in which people will end up turning to the state for more support. Robust families and real neighbourhoods, as well as being good things for themselves, are a condition for reducing the burdens on the state. Here we start getting into difficult territory. A philosopher warned that trying to restore a broken tradition is like trying to repair a cobweb with one's bare hands. But I am not a pessimist. I do not believe there is a law stating that it is inevitable that societies must decay and governments grow to replace them. Inspiring examples, often pioneered by centre-right governments, show it is possible to reduce crime, strengthen families, restore respect for the professions and bring life back to local communities. If we make that our vision we will find that a smaller state becomes not an ideological objective in its own right but the consequence of life getting better for our fellow citizens.

Here are the elements of a renewed Conservatism. It is long-term, not short-term. It is committed to the task of economic reform but sees that this must go hand in hand with social reform. It realises that social reform is not an optional extra to make us "nice". In reality, social reform is a condition for everything else, including the limiting of government. It gives the Conservative party a noble purpose once more."

I'm trying to keep this a 'Newsblog' rather than an opinion-heavy blog but I really think David Willetts 'gets it'.

Comments

[Edward]

Yeah thats true and all very well, but

How?

Lots of people are talking about things that are far too vague and we need to get some real discussion going.

[Prudence Dailey]

I'd be more impressed by David Willetts if I didn't also remember his comments to the 2002 Conservative Party Conference:

‘The Tory war on lone parents is over. The real Tory battle is to support and strengthen the nation's families. They come in all shapes and sizes... There's no point twitching at the net curtains as our society changes around us.’

Translation:

‘Tories shouldn’t promote idea that the traditional married family is the best way of bringing up children. We shouldn’t worry unduly about perverse incentives to single parenthood in the welfare system. In an age of relativism, we shouldn’t dare to suggest that questions of ‘lifestyle’ are relevant to social cohesion; and in particular, we should never suggest that any ‘lifestyle’ is preferable to any other, because it might put some people off.’