New Consensus Notes #1: The Need for a New Vision
A quick introduction to a bold new vision of British politics
Welcome to the Series
From all the articles and ideas one can read there is a distinct lack of the overarching ideological view. No longer turned on by bold ‘Thatcherism’ or angered by the delights of ‘Marxism’, everyone has become quite bored of ideas. Certainly one offshoot of the age of technocracy and depoliticised thinking is that the imagination and creativity which fuelled ideas, whether left or right, has been drained out of the British political system. The few new ideas that have become ‘mainstream’ have been of hilariously poor quality. Its time thoughtful politicisation re-entered the stage.
New Consensus Notes will be an episodic and informal series of explorations into new political ideas and power which could form the basis of a new Britain. The Political Inquiry has written numerous pieces on the formations of political consensus (we call them tides) and how the current neoliberal consensus is likely coming to an end. But what actually comes next?
Kit Haukeland and I have only sketched a monotone vision – just a framework – in our piece on the new consensus in Consensus and Power #5. While I know our conclusions were broadly correct, they were a bit vague, and too safe. Overall, ‘Security’ is the key driver in a new style of more independent British capitalism, focused more on the economic / social state and the growth within it. It is not deconstructing capitalism, but instead reimagining it within a British context: and especially for progressives who must ‘recognise that business is, in some ways, a progressive force.’ (David Boyle, The Alternative, 2016) New Consensus Notes will simply tie a thread through several disparate thoughts which may create this. As I wrote in my piece on tracking the result of the next election, the new consensus could be:
‘Reduced to a phrase: ‘social capitalism’ or ‘neo radicalism’ but both are opaque and quite useless. Reduced to a feeling: ‘Control’ or ‘Security’ against the wider impacts of economic downturn, inequality, ‘out-of-touch’ elites, and globalisation’
Security in this context can be defined in numerous ways but it simply seeks to create more national control: the security of the nation against global forces (market or otherwise) combined with the security of opportunity for each British citizen to thrive and achieve a good life. Some would argue the word ‘sovereignty’ is better – but this is opaque and partially pines for an age of imperial British power irrespective of the reality of geopolitics and globalisation. Unilateral decision making is a facade the British elite must forget. Whereas, security creates a nuanced vision – accepting a diminished British state and reimagining how we can live within our economic and global position. Only once this reorientation (in both mindset and action) has taken place can we begin to aspire for bigger things.
Our framework to achieve more security-focused capitalism consisted of three state functions:
– Catalyse
– Control
– Devolve
State power and intervention will need to be multifaceted and highly nuanced in a world of new complexities: catalysing through serious capital investment, controlling some aspects of the state and radically devolving power to the regions or other entities. A combination of these actions could lead to a more secure Britain, a fairer economic-settlement within the UK and produce longer-term growth. This is likely true, but it hardly attacks what needs to be done – nor where the battles of the new British state will take place. Catalyse, control and devolve are the big, blunt tools – but what are we actually building?
Tony Blair’s assumption that questioning globalisation was as absurd as questioning whether ‘Autumn follows Summer’ will be, and arguably has already been, proven wrong. This is not to say that global integration both economic and social will not continue, but it will certainly change its scope and pace. The sense of complete hyper globalisation has been consigned to history, at least for now.
The point of the new consensus notes is to add colour to the framework of security capitalism, to show what a new, modern Britain could actually look like and explain the new powers we need to develop to get there.
New Consensus Notes will start with four key policy areas which will likely dominate the next forty years of domestic politics (I exclude AI / technology which requires its own offshoot series):
– Energy / Environment
– Housing (and the capital divide)
– Health, Social care and the Aging population
– Identity, Nationalism and Immigration
Achieving consensus and progress in each area will require a rejuvenation of the rickety parts of the state in several areas:
– Number 10 and the Civil Service
– Fiscal powers and the Treasury
– Monetary powers and regulation
– Devolution and regional power
As I remarked in C&T#4: ‘the government has forgotten how to innovate nationally’ after an era of a diminished state reliant on the neoliberal market for growth. It’s time our institutions switched out of the elusive spectator mode and embody an active role in the nation’s future and change. It is the essence of the new consensus of security and control which means that the state must be politicised – areas like the Civil Service, monetary control or the Treasury must be talked about for what they are: places of political power. The previous consensus of politics endeavoured to lock politics out of financial institutions and state options for national innovation. Stefan Eich’s statement ‘Depoliticisation is actually de-democratisation’ (Currency of Politics, 2022) is a timely reminder of how elites in Westminster mould power away from democratic control or discursive debate. Re-energising these long depoliticised areas of the state will enable us to construct a new consensus and possibly return a degree of control to British citizens.
Important Caveats
The ideas posed in this series are incomplete, sometimes bold and should certainly not be considered ‘academic’. The point is not to build a bulletproof ideology – of which none exist – but to kickstart a vibrant discourse on the future of British policy and power.
Betraying the title somewhat there is nothing ‘new’ in New Consensus Notes, nor are any of my foundational thoughts in previous pieces. I don’t claim them to be – almost all ideas come from a plethora of sources from academics, books, media and interesting people I meet. I always endeavour to reference where possible, but sometimes thoughts diffuse into your brain without remembering its origin. If there are any areas which stand out in this series as being talked about before, then please comment and I will link / add them. I am not attempting to ‘crack’ political areas and become the first to solve a specific policy, instead the series is a unique thread which could connect power and ideas into a loose theory.
A final novel difference of this TPI series is that it will be live. The usability of Substack allows me to do live updates on pieces – adding different contributions from readers or new developments I find important. Steve Richards recently contended that history:
‘is a constant conversation between present and past’
The same goes for ideas and power; events and politics may change the utility of the ideas put forward here. Some may even be done post-publication. The series of pieces will thus grow in quality and depth – however I will attempt to keep each piece at around 10-12 minutes reading time to save everyone's brain. Each new addition will be dated when added, and I will post a note on substack to update readers of new areas.
So let's begin with a new political journey into ideas and power. The future, as with change, is only difficult if one refuses to engage with it. So why not join in?
