We've done it before – let’s make Britain a beacon of prosperity again
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3 min read
When I first came to Britain in the early 1980s, this country was alive with energy. It welcomed talent and ambition. People believed in enterprise, took risks and were proud of their success. Effort and aspiration were rewarded, and optimism filled the air. I’m not sure I would still make that same journey today.
That isn’t because Britain has lost its many strengths. Our financial sector, universities, creativity and global reach remain world-class. But the atmosphere has changed. Too often we distrust wealth creation and discourage risk. Regulation has multiplied, taxes have risen, and bureaucracy clogs the arteries of enterprise. The optimism that once drew people here has dulled.
Prosperity is never guaranteed. It must be renewed in every generation. Growth is the foundation on which everything else depends. Without it, we cannot sustain public services, defend the realm or invest in the technologies of the future. When growth falters, confidence follows.
But as Muhammad Ali said, “You don’t lose if you get knocked down; you lose if you stay down.” Economically, Britain has been knocked down, but we do not have to stay down. With the right incentives, the right policies and the right support for innovation and enterprise, we can rise again – stronger, more confident and more competitive.
That belief underpins Prosperity through Growth, a new book which I co-authored with Dr Arthur B. Laffer, Lord Matthew Elliott and Douglas McWilliams. It argues for a practical, pro-growth agenda rooted in incentives: rewarding work, attracting investment and restoring Britain’s self-belief.
It should be a model for Rachel Reeves. Our 24/7 Growth Plan sets out measures that could lift GDP by seven per cent within five years. Its message for the Budget is clear: align tax, spending, regulation and trade behind a single goal making Britain once again the best place in the world to work, invest and build a business.
That means a simpler, more predictable tax system that rewards effort and entrepreneurship, gradually lowering rates and removing distortions such as the double burden of income tax and National Insurance.
It means restoring discipline in public spending, keeping welfare and bureaucracy in check while directing resources into infrastructure, defence and energy security – the essential foundations of productivity. It also means a credible path to fiscal stability, with the deficit brought below two per cent of GDP and debt on course to fall below 60 per cent within two decades.
Above all, it requires freeing enterprise from excessive regulation: reforming planning, speeding approvals for housing and energy projects, and cutting the red tape that holds back investment.
Such reforms would send a clear message that Britain is open for business once more. Government cannot create wealth; only individuals and businesses can. But it can create the conditions in which they thrive – sound money, stable rules and the freedom to innovate. When these levers are in the same direction, the result is stronger investment, higher productivity and better living standards.
Growth is not a technical issue but a moral one
This approach has worked before. The reforms of the 1980s, the liberalisation of markets in the 1990s and targeted corporate tax cuts in the 2010s all delivered higher growth by restoring incentives and encouraging risk. Confidence, once lost, can be rebuilt when direction is clear and consistent.
Growth is not a technical issue but a moral one. It gives people opportunity, independence and dignity. Economic vitality allows a society to be strong and generous; it funds public services, innovation and defence. Growth empowers freedom. Without it, we risk decline not only in income but in confidence and purpose.
Britain has the talent, ideas and ingenuity to succeed. What it needs now is leadership and the courage to prioritise long-term prosperity over short-term comfort. If we can recover that sense of purpose, Britain can again be a magnet for ambition: the kind of place that drew me here four decades ago, and that can attract the next generation too.
Lord Hintze is a Conservative peer
