Mrs Thatcher still has a place in No. 10

The Conservatives need to champion freedom and personal autonomy. Informed adults must be allowed to make their own decisions and trade-offs

After the shortest Parliamentary recess in decades the House of Commons will return next week and the business of politics will resume. However, there is already clear blue water between the Labour Government and Conservative Opposition.
Points of difference have appeared in recent weeks over the economy, net zero, public sector remuneration and the nanny state. Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to remove a portrait of Margaret Thatcher from the Thatcher Room in Downing Street throws this divide into sharp relief but it also raises questions over the praise that he heaped on the nation’s first female prime minister in this newspaper last December. Though hardly effusive, Sir Keir ignited the ire of the Left by commending Mrs Thatcher’s ability to enact “meaningful change” and “drag Britain out of its stupor by setting loose our natural entrepreneurialism”.
Yet the Labour leader is fast dismantling what remains of Mrs Thatcher’s legacy. This Government proclaims its commitment to economic growth but all its actions seem set to sap entrepreneurial endeavour. It appears intent, at every turn, to extend the frontiers of the state, not roll them back.
Last week, on the steps of No 10, Sir Keir reiterated that his Government will not “do things” to people but rather “work with” them. Sir Keir previously pledged to “tread more lightly” on the lives of voters.
How does this square with the disclosure that ministers are considering a ban on smoking in outdoor settings? 
The impact of passive smoking on others in pubs, restaurants and offices had been well attested and was resented by non-smokers. However, the quid pro quo for those who chose to carry on smoking was that they could do so in pub gardens, outdoors in restaurants or in parks. There is little evidence that smoking outdoors is harmful to people who walk by, even if they may find it unpleasant.
Labour’s authoritarian paternalism is not limited to tobacco. Angela Rayner has announced that she is planning to draft legislation by mid-October to allow the state to take a far more active role in where, when and how people work. Much of the focus is on the deputy PM’s plans to tighten regulations on remote working and the right to disconnect outside working hours but The Telegraph reported this week that a “compressed” four-day week is also on the cards.
Yet Britain’s labour market is one of our few remaining comparative advantages. Unlike France, which heavily regulates employment, or Belgium which has already legislated for a four-day week, we are unusual in taking a much lighter approach. The Government seems intent on jeopardising freedom of contract, ignoring that employers and employees are perfectly capable of coming to voluntary arrangements. That businesses have spoken out against Labour’s plans should give them urgent pause for thought.
There has been much talk of “hard” decisions but Labour appears more interested in soft distractions. A series of new staff entitlements around flexible working may help some parents and carers but it will not solve the chronic problem of worklessness which means more than nine million people are currently neither in jobs nor looking for them. Will Sir Keir’s “unpopular” choices also include robust action to get those who can work into employment?
Will Wes Streeting reform the NHS, or will our freedoms be further restricted in order to “protect” it? The problem with the healthcare system is that people cannot see a GP, that cancers are being aggravated by late diagnoses and millions languish on the waiting list. A singular focus on “prevention” will not help the already sick and once it is accepted that the state has a right to intrude, it will have no moral compunction about taking ever more of our income to spend on things that it believes to be important. This was once the great ideological dividing line between conservatives and socialists, only now it is blurred.
What do the Tories need to do now? They need to champion freedom and personal autonomy. Informed adults must be allowed to make their own decisions and trade-offs. That must be the Conservative message once more.
Mrs Thatcher still has much to teach those vying for the party leadership. Whoever wins in November will need to rediscover true Conservatism and move us away from the assumption that the state’s role is near limitless.
In the meantime, the party must be willing to make these arguments as Starmer pursues an agenda which will only further restrict growth and liberty.