Big Government And Society In The UK

In an attack on David Cameron’s recent ‘big society’ speech in the Sunday Mirror Lord Mandelson writes that only ‘public services and public investment’ can deliver opportunity and end poverty.

Mandelson’s attack follows several others by leftwing commentators in recent weeks. Common to all has been the belief that big government will solve our social problems.

A few weeks ago in the Times the former Labour adviser Philip Collins used Piccadilly Circus as a metaphor for Conservative policy:  ‘The neon signs above flash out the message that the market is open for business. Down below, the Angel of Christian Charity, more commonly known as the statue of Eros, commemorates the Tory philanthropy of the Earl of Shaftesbury.’ Collins, like Mandelson, believes Conservatives fail to recognise that the state is the missing link between these two driving impulses.

What is most interesting about these critiques is not what they say about Conservative policy, but rather what they reveal about their authors. Neither has anything to say about the institutions of civil society beyond the role of charity. In fact, what it is clear from the recent debate is that it is the left that thinks ‘there is no such thing as society.’ Lord Mandelson almost goes as far as admitting as much, writing that it is ‘David Cameron [who] sees government and society as different things.’ This is perhaps the most revealing quote by a Labour Minister since Douglas Jay argued that ‘it is the man in Whitehall who knows best.’

Of course, government and society are different. There is a vast multitude of relationships, associations and organisations to which we belong, that inform our lives and influence our decisions. Some of these institutions, such as schools and colleges, are often state funded but this does not mean that they are simply part of government; their origins are to be found in social not state action.

The challenge for a Conservative Government will be to nurture new forms of association. Drawing back the state will create a space for social action, but it will not by itself be enough to generate a fundamental change in behaviour. At the RSA, Matthew Taylor is drawing lessons from the latest scientific research which shows how our behaviour is driven as much by social networks as it is by rational choice. Conservatives have always known this to be true. But too many of the institutions that should be at the heart of these networks; harnessing our social impulse, instead find themselves driven from the centre. Freeing institutions, such as schools and colleges, from state direction will enable them to once again play a role at the heart of community life.

If we do not act now then one day Lord Mandelson will be right – there really will be no difference between government and society.In an attack on David Cameron’s recent ‘big society’ speech in the Sunday Mirror Lord Mandelson writes that only ‘public services and public investment’ can deliver opportunity and end poverty. Mandelson’s attack follows several others by leftwing commentators in recent weeks. Common to all has been the belief that big government will solve our social problems.

A few weeks ago in the Times the former Labour adviser Philip Collins used Piccadilly Circus as a metaphor for Conservative policy:  ‘The neon signs above flash out the message that the market is open for business. Down below, the Angel of Christian Charity, more commonly known as the statue of Eros, commemorates the Tory philanthropy of the Earl of Shaftesbury.’ Collins, like Mandelson, believes Conservatives fail to recognise that the state is the missing link between these two driving impulses.

What is most interesting about these critiques is not what they say about Conservative policy, but rather what they reveal about their authors. Neither has anything to say about the institutions of civil society beyond the role of charity. In fact, what is clear from the recent debate is that it is the left that thinks ‘there is no such thing as society.’ Lord Mandelson almost goes as far as admitting as much, writing that it is ‘David Cameron [who] sees government and society as different things.’ This is perhaps the most revealing quote by a Labour Minister since Douglas Jay argued that ‘it is the man in Whitehall who knows best.’

Of course, government and society are different. There is a vast multitude of relationships, associations and organisations to which we belong, that inform our lives and influence our decisions. Some of these institutions, such as schools and colleges, are often state funded but this does not mean that they are simply part of government; their origins are to be found in social not state action.

The challenge for a Conservative Government will be to nurture new forms of association. Drawing back the state will create a space for social action, but it will not by itself be enough to generate a fundamental change in behaviour. At the RSA, Matthew Taylor is drawing lessons from the latest scientific research which shows how our behaviour is driven as much by social networks as it is by rational choice. Conservatives have always known this to be true. But too many of the institutions that should be at the heart of these networks; harnessing our social impulse, instead find themselves driven from the centre. Freeing institutions, such as schools and colleges, from state direction will enable them to once again play a role at the heart of community life.

If we do not act now then one day Lord Mandelson will be right – there really will be no difference between government and society.

Topics: big government, big society, Britain, Conservative Policy, David Cameron, Economy, England, Governance, Labour, Lord Mandelson, opportunity, poverty, public investment, public services, social networks, social problems, UK, United Kingdom

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