on for Conservatives from Liz Truss: Never Give Up on the Left
An Oct. 10th, a British prime Minister stated: “To all those who are waiting with bated breath for the favorite media catchphrase, ‘U-turn’, I have only one word to say: You can turn if your heart desires: The Lady’s not made for turning.”
These were the words of Margaret Thatcher, then-Prime Minister, as she spoke at a Conservative Party conference Oct. 10, 1980. It was a powerful speech that highlighted Thatcher’s firm rebuttal of calls to perform a “Uturn” in retaliation to opposition to her agenda to liberalize and revitalize the British economy.
However, Liz Truss, Britain’s prime minister, stated that she had ” absolutely not shame” in making a dramatic policy U turn on her economic reform agenda. This included cutting the top individual income tax rate of 45%. Truss also noted she “took the decision very quickly” to end the policy which was “becoming distracting” from the rest the government’s economic plans.
(It was announced Monday that Rishi, a former chancellor at the Exchequer and British equivalent to treasury secretary would succeed Truss. It is likely that this will happen as soon as Tuesday.
Truss pointed out recent policy mistakes and was upfront about her preferred path to restoring Britain’s economic dynamism. She offered a clear, free-market principles-based solution to the certainty of greater economic decline and to encourage much-needed investment.
Truss, regrettably, backedtracked from her original economic reform plan in direct concessions and indirect concessions for the Left in the U.K. She failed to stand her ground. This made Truss the most inept prime minister in the history of the country, as she had only assumed the office 45 days earlier.
Indeed, as Nile Gardiner (director of The Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, The Heritage Foundation) succinctly underlined
Conservatives on both sides are learning from Liz Truss’s resignation. Never give in to the Left, don’t change key policies, and stay true to conservative principles.
This is something conservatives in the United States should be aware of, especially considering America’s growing economic freedom. A Wall Street Journal editorial stated that “the dumbest argument” is that Ms. Truss’s death is a warning to U.S. Republicans to not cut taxes. She also noted that she “wanted progrowth policies to counter economic failures.”
The tax-and-spend drive by the Biden administration, and its far-left allies has severely impacted America’s economic freedom. Despite America’s already fragile fiscal health, the Biden administration has pushed ahead with a failed big government policy agenda that has added trillions of dollars to the national debt, raised taxes through higher inflation, increased regulatory burden and centralized more federal control over the economy.
The deterioration of America’s overall fiscal health has been caused by a widening deficit and a growing debt load. This is due to poor government budget management. This has been exacerbated by America’s ongoing spending spree. Deviations from sound financial positions often disturb macroeconomic stability, induce economic uncertainty, and so undermine America’s economic freedomand resilience.
If the federal government doesn’t spend enough, it won’t affect the nation’s competitiveness. The problem is that the government has become too large in scope and power, and it is affecting our daily lives.
Thatcher emphasized this point in her speech to 1980’s Conservative Party conference:
Our vision and our goals go beyond the complex arguments of economics. But unless the economy is right, we will deny our people the chance to share that vision, and to see beyond the narrow horizons economic necessity.
A healthy economy is essential for a healthy society. Without a healthy society, the economy will not last long. It is not the state that creates a healthy community. People feel less important when the state becomes too powerful. The state deprives society of its wealth and of its initiative, energy, will to improve, innovate, and preserve the best.
The iron lady’s powerful insights more than 40 years ago are still relevant today and serve as a timely reminder to America. It is more important than ever to preserve and advance policies based on conservative principles, economic freedom, and other freedoms.
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