As to Osborne’s plan to allow companies to give employees shares in their
business in return for giving up some employment rights, what could have
been an intriguing set of proposals has been turned into a complicated
gimmick of limited appeal; as the CBI put it, it is a “niche idea”.
What was most striking was the contrast between the torrent of exciting
policies being discussed on the unofficial fringes, including by many of the
brightest, younger Tory MPs and the policy–light, rhetoric–heavy and
excessively cautious message from the main hall.
The party is clearly in intellectual ferment but the good ideas on the economy
– how to cut tax responsibly, how to turbocharge the economy and how to
reform public services – are being proposed by powerless backbenchers,
rather than being implemented by ministers.
There are exceptions, of course, with Michael Fallon and Sajid Javid,
respectively at the Department for Business and the Treasury, and Owen
Paterson, the secretary of state for the environment, agitating for change;
and genuine, long–term improvements to the economy likely to come from the
reforms to welfare and education. But the real power is in the hands of a
small cadre that still doesn’t get it.
Anybody in pursuit of enlightenment would have been better off ignoring the
main speeches and visiting some of the private meetings hosted by think
tanks or Tory grassroot organisations. Some were awful, of course, but many
were enlightening. Kwasi Kwarteng, the MP for Stelphorne, wants to make it
easier for developers to build new airports by allowing them to directly
compensate and buy out individuals who lose out. China has built 33 airports
since 2006, and plans another 45 by 2015. Britain has not built a major
runway in the South East for 70 years, a disaster for business and tourism.
Several MPs – including Ben Gummer, who represents Ipswich – are trying to
devise new, better ways of limiting the national debt and the deficit, with
more credible fiscal rules.
Robert Halfon, MP for Harlow, wants to boost competition among utilities.
Priti Patel, who represents Witham, called for a radical simplification of
the tax code and lower and flatter rates. Andrea Leadsom, MP for South
Northamptonshire, outlined her proposal to renegotiate the UK’s relationship
with Brussels, repatriating powers to boost competitiveness and liberating
vast chunks of UK Plc from the dead hand of European red tape. It was much
more concrete than David Cameron’s latest vague hint at a referendum.
Dominic Raab, MP for Esher and Walton, highlighted how the World Economic
Forum ranks the UK 72nd out of 144 countries for the pressure of government
regulation on business. He wants to help small firms through exemptions from
employment legislation and spurious tribunal claims. He also wants to
require strike action in the transport sector and emergency services to have
the support of a majority of those balloted.
Why is the Government not listening to any of this? Why does it still support
the construction of the exorbitantly expensive HS2 high–speed rail link, a
ridiculous project based on a faulty cost–benefit analysis, when many
cheaper projects that would do much more to create economic value have been
axed? Why is the Coalition spending so much more on foreign aid, against the
wishes of the public, and even though the effectiveness of much of the
expenditure is deeply questionable, at best? Why not use the money to cut
some of the worst incentive–destroying taxes? The ideas are already there,
waiting to be implemented; but these days, it seems, the Conservative
establishment specialises in wasting opportunities.
Allister Heath is editor of City A.M
Source Article from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/9597768/The-Tories-should-listen-to-backbenchers-and-implement-real-change.html
