Tony Devenish

It has long been my understanding that innovative business entrants are the very lifeblood of our free market society. In recent months, however, you’d be forgiven for thinking this is no longer the case. Uber, Taxify, AirBnB, Deliveroo, Amazon, Google, along with many other modern innovators, have at times been treated like pariahs. Some of this criticism has been legitimate, with shortfalls in conduct or corporate culture rightly condemned. But much of the vitriol appears to be fuelled by those who have lost out to what is simply a more competitive and appealing business model.

Shortly after the 2010 general election I attended an event where mandarins complained of 'swingeing cuts'. Then one NHS boss admitted that he had so much cash sloshing around he was having trouble spending his multi-hundred million budget. Local government, which accounts for one quarter of government spending, has the same mindset. Despite the rhetoric of cuts, little has actually changed. I have watched Sir Humphrey Whitehall and local government (both as a private contractor and as a councillor), and each year we witness a rush before the financial year ends to spend money which, if cuts were actually deep, would not exist. Fraser Nelson spelt out this reality before the budget. Public spending increased by sixty per cent during the last government.