Restoration and radical reform

Douglas Carswell is a British politician who served as a Member of Parliament from 2005 to 2017, first as a Conservative before defecting to UKIP in 2014. A prominent Brexit campaigner and co-founder of Vote Leave, he now runs the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, a free-market think tank in the United States. Carswell is known for his advocacy of democratic reform, limited government, and economic freedom.

Calum and Tom talk to Douglas Carswell about:

• Douglas's experience in Mississippi where free-market reforms have accelerated economic growth beyond the UK's
• How Britain's "Blairite Ascendancy" of 30 years has empowered unaccountable experts and regulatory bodies that block elected officials from governing effectively
• A detailed blueprint to restore executive power through orders in council, civil service reform, and judicial restraint
• Proposals for public spending cuts of £170 billion and tax reductions including abolishing tariffs, lowering VAT, and reducing income taxes
• Addressing immigration through tighter controls and a voluntary "re-migration" program for non-contributors
• The cultural dimensions of Britain's troubles and the need to reassert Anglo-American values against cultural relativism
• How these reforms could unlock British innovation and prosperity if leaders have the courage to endure short-term pain

Listen on Apple Music, Spotify, and Substack. Produced by Aeron Laffere.

Further reading

Milestones: Nine steps to restore Britain - the essay outlining Douglas Carswell's detailed proposals

Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World by Tom Holland - Mentioned by Carswell as influential to his understanding of Western values

Looking for Growth campaign - A UK initiative advocating for policies to boost British economic growth

Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson - Explores how political institutions impact economic success

The Sovereign Individual by James Dale Davidson and William Rees-Mogg - Examines the changing relationship between individuals and the state

Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt - A classic text on free-market economics

State Capacity Libertarianism by Tyler Cowen - A blog post that reimagines libertarianism with a focus on effective government

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