The Plan, And How It Doesn't Go Far Enough

The Plan: 12 Months To Renew Britain has been greeted by some with a mix of rapt applause and not inconsiderable relief. After all, it represents a couple of Tories actually coming up with some interesting ideas to change Britain for the better. For those people who tire of the risk averse Cameron and the ideological vacuum that makes up his leadership, The Plan makes for happy reading. It shows that there are some Tories who still have balls and have clear ideas on how they would change this country for the better.

There is little in the book that I could possibly disagree with. Generally speaking, the two authors speak sense and understand that the future of this country is best served by a contraction of the state rather than an expansion of it. Yet for a Libertarian such as myself, what is missing from the book is a true sense of ambition. The reforms proposed are timely, intelligent and interesting. They are also lacking in ideological gravitas and the scope to truly renew Britain. Ultimately, this is a plan to make things a bit different and at the same time improve Britain. It isn't a fundamental challenge to the status quo and the vision used to run Britain today.

Take the issue of taxation. Quite rightly, the authors are keen to make tax an issue, and with their proposals on both VAT and council tax, they seem keen to reduce the tax burden. They also want to make it more transparent, and more open to democratic evaluation. They even quote the Laffer Curve. Yet at no point is the fundamental nature of taxation even questioned, and it is seen as a necessity rather than necessary evil. And reading their proposals on tax left me with a feeling that they wanted to reduce tax, yet don't want to take responsibility for doing so directly. Their policies are a step in the right direction. Unfortunately, it is only a baby step.

Likewise, the book advocates localism. Admirably - particularly for members of a party who will be in power after the next election - they wish to reduce the size and the scope of central government. Yet I get the feeling that this is simply about the transfer of power from one government body to another. Yeah, they do talk about reducing the size of the state. Again, though, they don't go anywhere near far enough with their rhetoric or their proposals. They are right to challenge Central Government, and right to point out the inefficiencies inherent in having a centralised government. Where they drop the ball is in failing to fundamentally address the issue of how much government control we actually want or need in this country. To talk of localism acts a smokescreen for the real problem - which is dealing with balance of power between state and personal control. A balance that at the moment is hopelessly and depressingly in the favour of the state.

As always, it is optimistic to look to the Tories to be Libertarian. Carswell and Hannan are Tory radicals, but they are still Tories. As great as some of their solutions are, they will always be limited by the party they are in. The Tories are not Libertarian, their policies are not Libertarian, and their party is not suitable for Libertarians. These radicals are only radical because they are in the Tory party. And their ideas are only innovative because they exist within the Cameron's neutered, PR driven, post-Blairite Tory party.

Congratulations to Mr Hannan and Mr Carswell for offering the Tories some real policies. It is just a shame that they don't go far enough, in my opinion. And the bitter irony is that whilst I'll criticise them for not going far enough, they are clearly too radical for Hannan and Carswell's own party. Because whilst Cameron may play lip service to their ideas with a primary in Totnes, his stance remains a long way off embracing their far more crucial policies on the NHS or on Europe.

The Plan is an admirable if muted call to arms from two members of a political party not ready to consider their ideas at the moment. To those whose horizons have been limited by the post-Blairite consensus, The Plan may well be a radical document. For me, the true radicalism comes when you are willing to fundamentally redress the balance between state and individual, and come down firmly in the favour of the latter. And The Plan just doesn't do that.