Unaccountable politicians and government are ruining the country
Most people, and sadly this includes most SME owners, have not been paying enough attention to either politics or economics for a very long time. They are therefore happily oblivious to the reality of where the UK is right now. One result of this inattention, is the general impression that all our different problems start and finish with whoever is in government. If only we can replace the current government with another one, things will be OK.
Unfortunately, that’s not how it works anymore.
We have a deeper malaise.
Let’s not get into conspiracies here, and just say that through a gradual erosion of political accountability, that has spanned about eighty years, something, someone, or some entity has captured the machinery of the state.
The outcome of this prolonged decline is that our judiciary, police, civil service, education system, health care system, the military, local government, the media, the Quangos and NGOs are now largely run by an unelected, class that are ideologically bound to a myopic worldview and are currently impervious to restraint from the electors.
Our governments are blinded by ideology
The presiding ideology is now socialist, and globalist, and embraces unnatural beliefs such as transgenderism, the need for open borders and man-made climate change.
And here in lies a major problem. If you have ever wondered why the government so often behaves in a bizarre or even insane way over so many issues these days, here is your answer.
The fact is that firmly held beliefs or ideologies are a very real and powerful barrier to rational thinking and fact-based decision making. This problem arises due to a peculiar brain mechanism that automatically filters out from our conscious perception new evidence that contradicts pre-existing beliefs.
Or to put it more simply, our brain is hard wired so that it is literally unable to see what we do not already believe.
And it gets worse. Strongly held beliefs become part of the self-identity of the believer and so any conflicting evidence or contrary ideas are a direct threat to them. You may have noticed how such people become immediately angry with, or hostile to, anyone or anything that dares challenge their beliefs.
What is happening here is that the threat to their personal identity literally triggers the stress response. At which point higher brain faculties start shutting down and they become incapable of discussing a subject rationally and calmly. In psychology we call this stress response ‘cognitive dissonance’ and the better-known condition of ‘confirmation bias’ follows on from that.
Now that our institutions are populated with ideologically driven individuals, we get a two-tier justice system that attacks opinion holders of contrary ideas but takes a relaxed attitude to perpetrators of actual violence and mayhem. Attachment to ideology is why we now suffer politicized policing, woke indoctrination of our children, and councils obsessing over diversity targets rather than emptying the bins on time or filling in potholes. It also explains why we also have a destructive media that stifles debate and acts as a corporate or government propaganda machine.
What this means for small business
Economically we are driven more and more by an ideological agenda set by a collaboration between big government and large, often international corporate interests.
Be aware, that an important part of this ideology is an antipathy towards small and medium sized businesses. Perhaps you have noticed ‘business life’ becoming increasingly more difficult, more stressful and less profitable? Well, this is why and also why small businesses are leaving the field in unprecedented numbers. (This is on top of 400,000 of them that closed down during the pandemic).
General elections do not touch this machine as the ideology stretches across the major parties and infests all areas of the permanent government. Ministers and Prime Ministers may come and go, but the permanent government stays on, enforcing its ideology regardless of who you vote for. In effect the ideology has been hard wired into the institutions of government with the result that government spending inexorably rises to ever increasing levels.
Burgeoning national debt weighs us all down
We have already reached a point where the national debt is about eight trillion pounds*. This almost meaningless statement is put into perspective when you divide the amount by the number of households in the UK. Then you can see that our government has managed to rack up an unsecured debt of £278,000 for every household in Britain. By the way this compares with an average figure of £17,000 in unsecured debt generated by the householders themselves for their own use.
All this £278,000 is going to have to be paid for by your tax, probably for generations to come. If you are constantly feeling short of money and short of time, this heavy debt might be the reason.
And then there is mass immigration
Apart from the burgeoning national debt, perhaps the most catastrophic policy has been mass immigration. This is no accident and is a deliberate campaign sustained by every government since 1997 regardless of the express wishes of the electorate.
We were told it was to boost the economy, by filling skills shortages and creating strength through diversity.
But in truth mass immigration serves three aims.
First, it entrenches “diversity” as a tool for policing speech. Once demographics shift, the state can justify speech codes, hate laws, and censorship as “protecting minorities,”. This provides ample cover to suppress dissent over their tax and spend agenda.
Second, it undermines national cohesion. A divided population is easier to control. When communities are split by language, religion, and culture, they are less likely to unite against the ruling elite. Immigration keeps public attention on competing groups rather than those in power.
Third, it reshapes the electorate. Bringing in millions from cultures with strong collectivist traditions creates a voting bloc inclined toward bigger government, welfare, and identity politics.
The result is a Britain where many feel no connection to its history or values — and where voicing this is treated as illegal.
The SME role in making politicians more accountable
Reversing this suicidal national trend requires root-and-branch reform: A DOGE style war on waste, dismantling quangos, defunding activist NGOs, removing DEI bureaucracies, reclaiming schools, rebuilding the police and judiciary. This demands political courage (that most parties currently lack) and public pressure.
This is where the 5 million SME sector can perform a useful role.
It is likely that the only people with both the understanding, desire and the means to force the change is the SME community.
They also have the most to lose.
If we fail, the direction is clear. Immigration will keep transforming the country, censorship will tighten, and dissenters risk prosecution and bankruptcy through debanking. 24/7 surveillance will be the norm. Borders will stay open except to those with “dangerous” views. The national debt will keep spiraling to a point where the economy will collapse.
In this scenario, ultimately the small business community will flounder as it will become too problematical to run a successful business. And if you do manage to succeed you will be taxed to disintegration. Quite simply these ideologues don’t want you around, you are far too untidy and non-compliant.
Collectively more of us must choose to act or watch Britain travel even further down the road to become a one-party state, with elections reduced to a soap opera and institutions enforcing a monolithic Godless ideology.
The fight may be long and difficult, but without it, the nation we know will disappear permanently and take our prosperity with it.
One starting point to the UK recovery is to join the 1832 Club.
OK, so enough of the bad stuff. What are we going to do about it?
As seen above, a major cause of failure has been the loss of accountability. We have not been holding ‘them’ to account for their incompetence. It is this that the 1832 is setting out to restore.
The way we aim to bring back a degree of accountability is for local business people to collectively support individual candidates (rather than their party). By the way, the reverse side of the coin is that our members can withdraw support if a candidate reneges on their pledges once they are in office or suddenly support some new program that was unmentioned before the election.
The point is that politicians, once in office, will be less eager to comply with the wishes of their party central office and more inclined to listen to the views and needs of their constituents if local people, not head-office are making real contributions to their electoral survival. Similarly, there is a better chance that our politicians will dare to override the wishes and policies of the ‘permanent government’.
Over to you.
* The figure for the national debt includes unfunded public sector pensions and the unfunded state pension liability. All of these will ultimately have to be paid out of tax revenue.