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The Centre for Small-State Conservatives has been created to renew a longstanding strand of Conservative values, because it contains many of the answers to modern Britain’s problems.
It is a strand which has been overlooked in recent years, initially because the Conservative Party’s last period in Government began in coalition with the Liberal Democrats, and then because of three huge and extraordinary events – Brexit; a once-in-a-century pandemic; and then the first war in Europe for 80 years – which needed temporary but very big and expensive state interventions like the Furlough and Energy Price Guarantee schemes.
The aftermath has left enormous Government debts, higher taxes, struggling public services and too many people who aren’t fit for work. Plus there are four more, huge problems looming on the horizon: the demographic timebomb of an ageing society; a new industrial revolution as artificial intelligence reshapes and reinvents everyone’s jobs; growing security risks from increasingly aggressive mafia states, autocracies and theocracies; and decarbonising our society without killing our economy in the process. Their impact will only grow in future, and they will impose wrenching changes whether we want them or not.
Big Government spending programmes can't solve these challenges. Our already-high taxes and Government borrowing mean there isn't much headroom to cope with new shocks when - not if - the next one arrives. And big programmes often bandage the symptoms of a problem rather than treating its underlying causes: for example our benefits system costs taxpayers billions, but poverty is still with us after 70 years of the welfare state.
Small-State Conservatives believe there's a better way. If we smash the glass ceilings and vested interests which prevent people from reaching their full potential, and then equip them with the skills and attitudes to grab life chances whenever they appear, more of us will be able to live proudly independent lives without needing so much help from the State.
If these ideas and approach strike a chord, you’ve come to the right place. We are collecting ideas and arguments about how to put this approach into practice, so everyone who thinks the same way can find what they need quickly and easily. Please take a look at any details which interest you, and sign up to our newsletter so we can keep you updated too!