Will Rishi Fix Britain?
Or is this the revenge of the technocrats?
As Rishi Sunak assembles his cabinet and announces a raft of ‘sensible’ policies, you can hear the sigh of relief among technocratic types. Whilst no one has any interest in the kind of slow-motion collapse we had been witnessing, this internal political infighting seems far removed from voters’ concerns about mortgages and energy bills, not to mention border chaos. Nonetheless, many of us will be glad to see the back of many of those that Rishi has kicked out of the cabinet. We can (cautiously) welcome back Nick Gibb and Robert Halfon to education and congratulate Kemi Badenoch as minister for women and equalities.
To some degree, we all have to hold our breath and see what the new government means in practice. Among many of the people I speak to, there is a sense that we have to tolerate, reluctantly, what is going on - because we the public have in reality been side-lined. Not even the Tory membership got a chance to vote on Sunak, and you feel that this is in part because a great many people were horrified by the chance of ordinary people perhaps picking the ‘wrong’ candidate once again. The contempt for Tory party members parallels the far broader contempt our political class has of ordinary people - the contempt we all saw laid bare in the aftermath of Brexit.
These are sobering times for democrats. I agree with many of those who insist that an election is now necessary - but I also recognise this would, at best, legitimise a government and not deal with the deep-rooted sense of political homelessness that we face. To my friends in the Labour Party (yes, I still have some!) I would like to warn you that the current poll surge for Starmer is not a widespread reflection on Labour politics. In reality, there is no real alternative waiting in the wings, despite the efforts of those I know in Reform, Reclaim or the SDP.
The question for our times is: how can we give voice to the aspiration for a different kind of politics, and a different kind of political party? We all need to give this some thought and avoid the temptation to just frustratedly let our anger rip.
One key part of this is to think and argue better. We all need a clearer understanding of what we face - and what ideas and policies we want. We need to take ourselves seriously and do some intellectual work. We need to come armed with much better arguments and ideas about how to kickstart the economy, solve the border issues, deal with energy and take on the entrenched interests blocking building and infrastructure.
Here are some great events, videos, articles, and podcasts that will, I hope, help you do just that. This can feel like a pessimistic moment, but we overcome pessimism and challenge fatalism by taking control of destiny ourselves. Here’s to that.
Buxton Battle of Ideas festival
If you haven’t yet got your tickets for our amazing festival event in Buxton, now is your chance. We’re delighted to be getting out of the London bubble for a special event at the Devonshire Dome in Buxton. It is a chance to grab control of politics and debate together the best way forward for Britain. We’ll be tackling topics like:
Can we fix Britain?
Politically homeless: what next for Red Wall voters?
Build Back Better: why can’t we build anything at all?
Call to courage: is anything worth fighting for?
And a whole lot more.
SkillsWorldLive Podcast
Tom Bewick - head of the Federation of Awarding bodies and a good friend of all of us at the Academy of Ideas - hosted his great podcast #SkillsWorldLive at the Battle of Ideas festival. You can catch up with it here
Battle of Ideas session video: Challenging the Cost-of-Living Crisis
One of the first Battle of Ideas festival session recordings from our friends at WorldWrite has come out on YouTube. Its a very timely discussion which I think you’ll really enjoy.
Together
The #Together campaign had a sold-out event in London this week. It was a really interesting, challenging discussion. By no means did I agree with everything said, but lots to chew on. Check out this clip of Frank Furedi discussing why the ‘Great Reset’ is a myth and sideshow, and then the whole video:
Read more: Frank Furedi on our useless elites
Frank Furedi expands on those themes about the real nature of our elites in a couple of articles from his Substack. You should read this one in particular, but you really must subscribe to his newsletter.
The Thought Police at #Battlefest
We were delighted to have TalkRadio’s brilliant Thought Police show at the festival this year. You can listen to Mike, Kevin and their guests below or wherever you get your podcasts.
Frank never said The Great Reset is a myth only that he doesn’t believe they will be able to bring it to fruition. He makes many excellent points in this event. Well worth watching.