- Ownership is at the heart of conservatism but the country is at risk of forgetting lessons learned after the Second World War
- ‘The Power of Ownership’ by Sir John Redwood MP warns that the UK is at risk of slipping back into nationalised industry, government-directed companies, and reliance on Whitehall to generate solutions
- Instead, politicians should harness the popularity of ownership and private sector investment to develop policies which give the public a greater sense of pride and security
- From housing to employment, industry to culture, a new pamphlet sets out ways launch an ownership revolution
Ownership is a main foundation of a free society. From the baby’s first protective instincts towards a prized soft toy to the pride a homeowner takes in their own home, ownership brings security and well being.
‘The Power of Ownership’, by Sir John Redwood MP, sets out why ownership is popular and how more can be encouraged and helped to own. Redwood argues ownership is a crucial divide between conservatism and socialism and that we cannot have a successful free enterprise economy without more people working for themselves, setting up business, and buying shares to back successful businesses.
It urges a new ownership revolution, freeing the self employed, boosting the small businesses, helping people to be homeowners. We can return state owned and state regulated businesses to the freedoms of wider ownership offering more choice and investment for the many.
The report outlines a number of ways to boost ownership, including:
- Support home ownership by supporting self-builds, selling off government- or council-owned rundown properties to bring them back into use more quickly
- Compensate those living near new housing developments to discourage NIMBYism and increase housebuilding
- Infrastructure should be delivered prior to new homes being built to reassure the settled community and to be ready for the new residents when the homes are sold
- Reforming how we tax the self-employed to allow them to grow their businesses more easily
- Raise the VAT threshold to £250,000, boosting the capacity and growth potential of the small business sector
- Gift licence fee holders shares in the BBC, allowing them to appoint the Board and Director General, with the ability to sell new shares to raise capital in the future
- Selling off the remainder of government holding in NatWest in a single major transaction
Sir John Redwood MP, author of ‘The Power of Ownership’, said:
‘There are still too many people with too few assets. People cannot be expected to back property ownership and free enterprise if they cannot own assets for themselves.
‘It is time for a new wave of ownership of homes, businesses, shares and savings, so more can enjoy the security and wellbeing that ownership can encourage. We should be promoting ownership at every turn, empowering the public and delivering a better economy.’
Robert Colvile, CPS Director, said:
‘Increasing ownership has always been at the heart of the CPS’s work, for example via our recent work on housing or retail investing. Sir John’s call for an expansion of the ownership agenda is one that speaks not just to a profound conservative value, but to voters’ deepest aspirations.’
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
- ‘The Power of Ownership’ is available to download here. ‘The Power of Ownership’ is the second in a series of collaborations between the Centre for Policy Studies and members of the Conservative Growth Group.
- Rt Hon Sir John Redwood is the Conservative MP for Wokingham.
- For further information and media requests, please contact Emma Revell on 07931 698246 or [email protected] or Josh Coupland on [email protected] and 07912 485655.
- The Centre for Policy Studies is one of the oldest and most influential think tanks in Westminster. With a focus on taxation, economic growth, business, welfare, education, housing and green growth, its goal is to develop policies that widen enterprise, ownership and opportunity.
Date Added: Thursday 7th September 2023
