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NEO-LOCALISM Rediscovering the Nation NEO-LOCALISM Rediscovering the nation Edited by Liam Booth-Smith Foreword by Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP About Localis Who we are We are an independent, cross-party, leading not-for-profit think tank that was established in 2001. Our work promotes neo-localist ideas through research, events and commentary, covering a range of local and national domestic policy issues. Neo-localism Our research and policy programme is guided by the concept of neo-localism. Neo-localism is about giving places and people more control over the effects of globalisation. It is positive about promoting economic prosperity, but also enhancing other aspects of people’s lives such as family and culture. It is not anti- globalisation, but wants to bend the mainstream of social and economic policy so that place is put at the centre of political thinking. In particular our work is focused on four areas: • Reshaping our economy. How places can take control of their economies and drive local growth. • Culture, tradition and beauty. Crafting policy to help our heritage, physical environment and cultural life continue to enrich our lives. • Reforming public services. Ideas to help save the public services and institutions upon which many in society depend. • Improving family life. Fresh thinking to ensure the UK remains one of the most family-friendly places in the world. What we do We publish research throughout the year, from extensive reports to shorter pamphlets, on a diverse range of policy areas. We run a broad events programme, including roundtable discussions, panel events and an extensive party conference programme. We also run a membership network of local authorities and corporate fellows. 2 NEO-LOCALISM LOCALIS.ORG.UK Contents Foreword Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP 2 About the authors 3 Introduction 4 1 What is neo-localism? 5 Liam Booth-Smith 2 Why place matters 7 Barry Quirk 3 Why beauty matters 11 Adrian Harvey 4 When does solidarity occur? 14 Rafael Behr 5 Is the local, liberal? 17 Ryan Shorthouse 6 The case for new power 19 Professor Vernon Bogdanor 7 The identity of a city 22 Philip Collins 8 Can there be civil society without faith? 24 Dan Hitchens 9 The incivility of civic language 26 Claire Fox 10 A neo-localist England 29 Jack Airey 11 Why the United Kingdom is a legacy worth preserving 32 James Worron 12 Local democracy and electoral reform 35 Alexandra Runswick 1 Foreword One of the great ironies of the 21st century is that politicians have never been more visible whilst, to many ordinary voters, seeming so distant. People can follow every twist and turn of Westminster life through a seemingly endless parade of 24-hour TV coverage, rolling news websites, daily emails and more. Thanks to social media, individual politicians can instantly share the most important or mundane details of their daily lives with an almost limitless audience – and individual citizens can instantly share exactly what they think of them, for good or ill. But in this era of unprecedented connectivity, an increasing number of voters see politicians as more and more disconnected from “real life”. We’ve seen the results in polls, elections and referenda around the world; here in Britain, the simple yet understandable desire to “take back control” was made abundantly clear in the summer of 2016. This matters because, as Liam Booth-Smith argues in the introduction to this excellent collection of essays, the political process forms part of a golden thread that runs through us all, helping to hold the nation together. Allow that thread to fray, and the consequences won’t just be lower turnouts at elections. It could damage – even destroy – cohesion at every level of society. Preventing that from happening is a task that should occupy all of us in government and, as this paper shows, the best place to start the fightback is at the local level. Local government and local decision-making is the direct link between the state and the community, between the services people rely on every day and the people who provide them – whether it’s a road being resurfaced or a school being expanded or a housing development being granted permission. When a lever is pulled at the local level, the effects are immediate and obvious. I often talk about councillors being on the frontline of democracy – and, just like the armed forces, they deserve the very best tools to do the job. That, for example, is why I’m so keen on devolution and elected mayors. The policy isn’t about merely tidying up various constitutional loose ends. It’s about actively moving power from national to local, putting control of government where it belongs: in the hands of the governed. Devolution is just one part of the drive for localism that has been a core part of this government’s agenda for the past seven years, and this collection of essays provides plenty of food for thought on where to go next. Some of the contributors are figures I’m familiar or friendly with; others I have not crossed paths with before. But all their inputs are very welcome because, although I’m not going to comment on the validity of the individual essays and the concepts they espouse, politics in this country is supposed to be all about ideas and debates. We won’t overcome the challenges we face by simply sticking to the same old thinking and repeating the same old mistakes time and again. We need creative thinking, fresh ideas, new ways of working and new fuel for discussions about the future of localism. With this collection, that’s exactly what Localis has delivered. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP 2 NEO-LOCALISM LOCALIS.ORG.UK About the authors Liam Booth-Smith is Chief Executive of the think tank Localis Barry Quirk is Chief Executive of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Adrian Harvey is a novelist and writer Rafael Behr is a political columnist at The Guardian Ryan Shorthouse is Director of the think tank Bright Blue Vernon Bogdanor is Professor of Government at King’s College, London Philip Collins is Chief Leader Writer and Columnist at The Times Dan Hitchens is Deputy Editor of The Catholic Herald Claire Fox is Director of the Institute of Ideas Jack Airey is Head of Research at the think tank Localis James Worron is a Director at Burson-Marstellar Alexandra Runswick is the Director at Unlock Democracy ABOUT THE AUTHORS 3 Introduction Neo-localism isn’t a neologism. It has been in use for some time in human geography circles. A quick google search tells you it was coined by Wes Flack and refers to the idea of promoting and preserving community identities and cultures. Wanting to place it into a UK political context, we have what you might describe as ‘culturally appropriated’ the term. The only similarities between our definition and the original is the sense of ‘the local’ being acutely important to communities. This collection is really a statement of where Localis is heading intellectually. We’ll certainly continue to produce precise policy research on the economy and public services, but we can’t be blind to the wider political breakdown the UK is experiencing. To not have a view on the nature of what is happening to our politics, to not be brave enough to take the risk of having an opinion and making it known, would be wasteful. I’d like to thank all of our contributors for this collection, whose ideas and arguments have shaped my own. I would also like to thank the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust whose generous grant helped to make this collection possible. LBS 2017 4 NEO-LOCALISM LOCALIS.ORG.UK 1. What is neo-localism? Liam Booth-Smith I must open with a confession. I write this essay as a conservative. I’m no longer a card carrying member, but I am connected to a philosophy and have of late felt its strain. As such, it is reasonable to take this essay as my view on how conservatism can adapt to survive. Yet I believe there is as much here for the left as the right. On the second floor of the National Portrait Gallery sits the Wellington Exhibition. A collection of scenes and figures of statesmen from 18th and 19th century Britain. At the end of the longest room, furthest in, hangs Sir George Hayter’s commemoration of the 1832 Reform Act. It shows the first sitting of the House of Commons in 1833 following the general election. I’ve stood in front of this painting many times, mostly in a mindless awe. More recently however, I’ve come to regard it as symbolic of something greater. It has prompted two thoughts in me worth sharing. The first is democracies owe their existence to a sense of shared loyalty to the nation. The second is such loyalty to the nation, far from being solely an abstract idea, finds life in the bonds of kinship we share with one another. Hayter’s painting shows us that to respect the democratic process is to protect the integrity of the nation. Our common political endeavour; the extension of freedom and a natural love and respect of place, fellow citizens and binding culture, is strengthened by the connection between democracy and a sense of nationhood. There is a touch of romanticism to this, and a painting sparking reflection is undeniably cliché, but nonetheless it feels true. And it is because I feel, as well as think it, it seems significant to me and not merely interesting.
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