Manifesto for a New Social Covenant
Today we launch A Manifesto for a New Social Covenant which outlines three key policy priorities for stronger families, stronger communities and a stronger nation.
We argue that while lifting the lid off enterprise - cutting taxes and regulations - boosts growth, drives investment and creates jobs, we must not forget the roots of our economy - our homes and families, our communities and our culture.
These things are the soil our economy grows in - where people live and gather, where they learn the skills and the values they need to prosper and the support they need when times are tough. It’s not so much trickle down - more, pump up.
If we don’t nurture the roots, our families will break down, communities will collapse, and our economy will be weaker and more unequal.
We also need to get the framework right - the rules around human rights and equality that regulate how we treat each other, and the basic norms of citizenship, including immigration and border control. If the laws undermine these norms, or let malign ideas sow division between communities, the framework is weakened and our cohesion as a country is harmed.
We need to do things differently.
We need to keep on liberating enterprise and stimulating growth. But just as important we need to strengthen the foundations of prosperity, and fix the legal framework that regulates our society.
Supporting the homes and households where families live. Supporting the social infrastructure as well as the economic infrastructure on which our communities depend. Strengthening the legal framework around rights and equalities.
That’s the way to create economic success - not just growth, but prosperity for all.
Families, communities, the nation itself
We call all this the social covenant: an agreement inherited from history and passed on to future generations to sustain our common life, by strengthening the bonds that make us happy, safe, and free.
Yesterday, we launched ‘Social Capitalism’. Read more below.
Watch the launch of the report here: