Little But Lip Service To Liberal Ideals Sinks Local UK Government Reputations

abadonned warehouses and parking lot
Unkind history: the UK public lacks confidence not only in developers but their own local councils, especially when it comes to large projects.

What are conservatives actually conserving? Some hold the idea that conservatives are conserving endearing and enduring values of liberalism.1

Because of this supposed (and apparently deeply embedded) notion of well-aged liberalism suitable to conservative tastes, we might expect that actual conservative governments would appreciate the finer wines of this 19th century vintage — liberal ideals such as responsible government commitment to the needs of all the people, not just the 1%.

We have examples of two conservative national governments in the United States and the United Kingdom, and are thus in a position to evaluate their performance in service of those liberal ideals that are worth preserving.

What’s more, we have a development industry survey from the United Kingdom. The survey sought opinion about the performance of local governments and their cherished private enterprise partners as they strive to provide affordable housing for the nation (aka public private partnerships).

Let’s start with the private partners. Their commitment to affordable housing over the last few years has been a topic of frequent national comment in the UK. There have indeed been a few wobbles here and there, so we cannot expect a ‘perfect trust’ rating from the UK population. Maybe a moderate level of trust? Say 70% . . . okay, at least 50% . . . but surely not as low as 25%?

Would you believe that the level of trust in the UK for private developers is 2%?

True, you have to take into account the nature of the free enterprise developer beast. Like the scorpion ferried across the river on the back of the government frog, we really must expect the scorpion to sting the frog, with the result that they both drown. It is in the scorpion’s nature, just as its first and only allegiance is to its shareholders, not the common rabble. (Or to a friendly amphibious ferry boat enroute to the land of profit.)

Local governments, the public partners, are responsible for managing the partnerships. Their role as ferry, paddling earnestly forward while clasped in the duplicitous embrace of private enterprise, doesn’t inspire the public either. When it comes to developing large projects, less than 10% of the public have confidence in their local council.

Read more in Housing Today: Only 2% Of UK Population Trust Developers

Footnotes

  1. If you can handle all the flips and flops and mixups of terminology, ideals and political viewpoints, past and present, here’s a good wallow in the notion of conservative liberalism in the National Review: The Right Liberalism

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