The demographic tide can’t be turned back, but its advance can be slowed – by the self-reinforcing triangle of stronger families, better schools, good jobs, and the stronger society that these help to build.
If Britain’s productivity problem could be fixed by politicians tilting at unpopular targets – in this case, an assumed army of scroungers – it would have been fixed long ago.
Couples are waiting later and later to have children due to the cost of living in many areas of the country – of which housing plays such a massive part. It is certainly encouraging to see action is being taken to reduce some barriers to building, but this should be done with more haste.
The Government is now trying to make T levels the main vocational alternative to A levels. It is not clear that they can take on such a big role.
Both the wish to improve education and to offer more help to families require more public spending, not less. Such proposals only make sense if government is willing to be tougher in other areas.
There are many things that can be done to resist the tide. The first would be for ministers to make the philosophical case for where state responsibility ends, and personal responsibility starts.
The last of three articles this week as our project continues over the summer and autumn.
The concluding article of a new series on ConHome about how government might be made smaller, taxpayers better off and and society stronger – through strong families, better schools and good jobs.
The twenty-sixth article in a new series on ConHome about how government might be made smaller, taxpayers better off and and society stronger – through strong families, better schools and good jobs.
The twenty-fifth article in a new series on ConHome about how government might be made smaller, taxpayers better off and and society stronger – through strong families, better schools and good jobs.
The twenty-fourth article in a new series on ConHome about how government might be made smaller, taxpayers better off and and society stronger – through strong families, better schools and good jobs.
Better skills not only improve the earning power of families, they also drive aspiration, social mobility, and ambition, while rewarding those who work hard – all fundamental Conservative values.
The reform of IR35 would not just add substance to the Prime Minister’s second priority of growing the economy, it could form a key plank of the Work and Pensions Secretary’s laudable mission of getting the economically inactive back to work.
At last night’s Onward event, Damian Green claimed David Cameron’s “tens of thousands” pledge had been a political success. What decade has he been living through?
Our Commission has begun to build consensus around what is needed, and we must now work together to extend that consensus and generate the coordinated action that is required.