LBC Views: It is the government who are actually anti-growth
10 October 2022, 13:51
I’ve been campaigning on mental health and related issues since 2008. During that time, it’s become one of my missions to disabuse people of the false binaries which hinder progress.
I’m often asked questions like ‘how are employers supposed to invest in workers’ mental health when they’re struggling to make a profit?’ or ‘body confidence is obviously important, but what about the obesity crisis?’. I’d explain that the evidence overwhelmingly shows supporting employee mental health is good for the bottom line. Or that there are now numerous health studies which prove that people who respect and like their bodies naturally make healthier choices when it comes to food and exercise.
It's not ‘one or the other’ and it never was. The only people who pretend it is are those with a vested interest in derailing the conversation. That’s why I was so dismayed to hear our new Prime Minister Liz Truss say the following during her party conference speech last week:
"We need an economically sound and secure United Kingdom. And that will mean challenging those who try to stop growth.
"I will not allow the anti-growth coalition to hold us back. Labour, the Lib Dems and the SNP, the militant unions, the vested interests dressed up as think-tanks, the talking heads, the Brexit deniers and Extinction Rebellion and some of the people we had in the hall earlier. The fact is they prefer protesting to doing. They prefer talking on Twitter to taking tough decisions. They taxi from north London townhouses to the BBC studio to dismiss anyone challenging the status quo.’
It seems the public are being encouraged to believe that anyone who wants to promote equality, be realistic about the damage Brexit has done to our country or save the planet are inherently ‘anti-growth’. It’s a nonsense concept of course, about as meaningful as those who shout ‘remoaner!’ ‘virtue-signaller!’ or ‘woke!’ on social media. However, I fear it might have a similar effect, i.e. giving people who don’t enjoy being presented with facts something to shout whilst putting their fingers in their ears.
During my LBC show on Saturday I interviewed Ami McCarthy, one of two Greenpeace protestors who were ejected from Liz Truss’ speech for holding up a sign reading ‘WHO VOTED FOR THIS?’ (and who the Prime Minister was referring to when she said ‘some of the people we had in the hall earlier’). I asked her how she felt about being lumped into this nebulous concept of the ‘Anti-Growth Alliance’.
She said: “It’s laughable really…..Renewable energy is now nine times cheaper than oil and gas. If the government were to invest in energy efficiency measures….they would add £7 billion to the economy… For every million pounds that they invest in oil and gas they will create 3 jobs. For every million pounds they invest in renewables they will create ten times as many. So, if you want to talk about growth, let’s talk about growth’.
I couldn’t have said it better myself. Liz Truss, if truly concerned about growth, needs to be having conversations with organisations like Greenpeace and Extinction Rebellion, those fighting to eradicate poverty (with solutions that don’t involve giving rich people tax breaks and hoping it’ll ‘trickle down’) or those like myself campaigning for better mental health provision.
I live in hope, but know she probably won’t. Her speech was an example of the oldest trick in the book – accusing one’s opponents of the things one knows one is guilty of. It is our Prime Minister who is maintaining the status quo. It is her government who are actually anti-growth.
