Long time, no speak

Just a quick one (because deadlines are horrific today - that's a reason for posting, not a reason for being brief). David Books at the New York Times highlights Philip Blond in his column today. It's well worth a read, even if you know about Blond, ResPublica and Red Toryism.

But it got me thinking about tax. I think the fundamental question is not whether lower taxes should happen - who thinks they shouldn't? It's when. On the left, you have people who acknowledge the need to revitalise communities and reduce the power of big government and corporations - but see tax revenues of providing the support systems to help that happen. On the right, people who think by lowering taxes, you weaken central government and allow communities to flourish.

That's why I'm not buying this as a Tory philosophy. We may well have built the nanny state - and we probably ought to be weaned off it. But this is no time for tough love. It's time for creative and well-directed leadership aimed at a controlled shift in the way we run things. Thatcher thought she could slash government spending on science and technology in the 1980s and the private sector would flood in to take up the slack. It didn't. And in the 2010s, we also must be skeptical about how quickly the people or the private sector will take up the reins responsibly.

(Labour, for what it's worth, look equally incapable of genuine and needed leadership. This election's going to be annoying.)