UWL welcomes political author Will Hutton as part of Ruskin College anniversary celebrations
Intro
Political commentator and journalist Will Hutton spoke about his latest book – ‘This Time No Mistakes: How to Remake Britain’ – at the University of West London’s Weston Hall on Thursday 23 May 2024. The event was the second in a lecture series celebrating the 125th anniversary of Ruskin College’s foundation.
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UWL ’s Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Peter John CBE, who is Principal of Ruskin College, introduced Hutton, detailing his wide-ranging media career, including being editor of The Observer newspaper, economics correspondent for BBC’s Newsnight and Principal of Hertford College, Oxford.
Will has written books including ‘The State We’re In’ and ‘The World We’re In’ – all thought provoking, wide ranging and beautifully written,”
he said, adding that he looked forward to reading ‘This Time No Mistakes’.
With immaculate timing, Hutton was speaking just 24 hours after British prime minister Rishi Sunak had called a surprise general election. Hutton kicked off his speech by remarking that Sunak’s announcement – made in Downing Street in torrential rain, to a soundtrack of ‘Things Can Only Get Better’ played on speakers in the crowd – was a fitting epitaph.
It really was a metaphor for a failed leader and a failed government reaching the end of the road. It is a desperate throw of the dice from a party that has collapsed as a coherent political project and a coherent organised philosophy.”
he said.
In his book he argues that the Conservative party has reached this point because of catastrophic policy errors of monetarism, the big bang in banking, austerity and Brexit.
Add to that Liz Truss – when you get through three prime ministers in a year, the public notices that they are not being governed well,” he added.
Self-interest will drive the best decision-making and the state must be kept as small as possible – we must let the individual fly and therefore the economy will take off. Well, it doesn’t work – capitalism, if left to itself around those principles will boom and bust.”
While recognising that capitalism is innovative and dynamic and gives individuals the chance to improve their lives, Hutton’s argument is that we need to organise it to minimise the bad and maximise the good. He points out that Tory governments have organised economic and social policy around the individual rather than the collective good and we are now living with the consequence of this.
My thinking has always been that the economic and social and political are intertwined so I propose organising progressive thought around the concept of a ‘we’ society,”
he explained.
A 'we' society is a floor below which no one can fall in terms of income, nutrition, education and housing. This would be based around a value system of fellowship – having each other’s backs – an ethic of socialism. Everything is made to happen by an agile, democratic, pro-investment, pro-social floor state.”
Hutton added that John Ruskin himself had kicked off some of this thinking, in his response to the challenges faced by people in the 1860s – when the laissez-faire attitude of the British ruling classes led to polluted water, disease and reduced life expectancy for the general population.
The lecture concluded with a question-and-answer session with the audience, followed by a drinks reception, where there was an opportunity to buy signed copies of Hutton’s book.
The Ruskin College 125th anniversary lecture series is set to continue across 2024.
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