It is a matter of economic fact that, when Vladimir Putin says that liberalism is obsolete, he is talking the most tremendous tripe. Liberalism is alive. It is well. It is delivering prosperity on a scale unimaginable to previous generations.
That is because a society that is free and inclusive and open will — on the whole — be the best place to start a business. It will be the safest place to invest. It will be the best place to start a family. It will be the best place to live. And there could be no better example of the triumph of liberal values, of course, than Britain today. There are all sorts of reasons why London and the South East are the most productive regions of the whole of Europe. There is the time zone. There is the language. There are the historic agglomerations of talent in the arts, culture, business and financial services. But there is something even more important; and that is the British sense of freedom to live your life as you choose — provided you do no harm to others — without the fear of persecution, or judgement, or discrimination.
Those liberal values have come to define not just the metropolis, but the whole of the UK; and it has been fascinating to observe, over the last couple of decades, as the other great cities have come to emulate and even to surpass the spirit of the capital: youthful, diverse, energetic, tech-savvy, open-minded.
The economic blessings of that modern British culture are obvious. We lead the world in cutting-edge technologies of all kinds — from bioscience to batteries. We have the world’s greatest universities, with an unrivalled record in producing original research — and never forget that one in seven of the world’s kings, queens, presidents and prime ministers were educated in this country, to say nothing of the Emperor of Japan.
If we want to uphold liberal values, we must leave by October 31 — and we will.
We have the world’s most versatile and successful musicians. We invent the most global television formats. We are always trying something new, as I have seen in the course of the last few days’ campaigning — whether it is exporting wine to America (up 177 per cent) or lightweight ultra low-carbon ships — made in Cowes and sold to Mexico.
We are the home of innovation and creativity; and there are two basic advantages we have, the fundamental guarantors and guardians of this sense of social freedom. There is democracy, and there is the rule of law. Each depends on the other. Each is vital. Each confers a basic and crucial equality on every person in the country.
The country that possesses these essential building blocks of liberalism will succeed; the country without them will — eventually — face disaster. I cannot therefore stress too much the importance of liberal values in actually putting bread on the table. There is a direct connection between social and political freedom — and long-term and sustainable economic prosperity. There is a direct connection between the liberal values — of democracy and the rule of law — and successful wealth creation, because corruption and gangsterism and kleptocracy will eventually strangle economic growth.
That is why these liberal values are essential; and the cardinal beauty of liberal democracy is that each person is equal. Everyone is equal under the law. Each person has an equal say — an equal franchise — at elections.
Which takes us to the great national question, which we are taking so painfully long to resolve.
One of the problems with the EU, as it has developed over the past 45 years of our membership, is that it has begun seriously to undermine that fundamental characteristic of a liberal democracy: that the people should have the power, at elections, to remove those who make the laws. The EU system makes this impossible.
Over the years, successive treaties have centralised power in Brussels, in a way that is understood by a tiny minority — who can always be sure of knocking on the right door in the Berlaymont, or paying someone to do so on their behalf — but which is wholly opaque to the broad mass of the public.
That was one of the reasons people voted to leave, and that is why it is so essential that we get on with it now and carry out that mandate by October 31. If we fail yet again, and kick the can down the road, we will continue to undermine trust in politics. If we say that it is not a “hard” deadline, we will fuel the suspicion that there is a conspiracy by the elite to frustrate the will of the people.
And people will reasonably wonder, if October 31 is not the “hard” deadline, then what is? Is it Christmas? The Greek calends?
If we fail yet again, and especially if we thereby increase the risk that the EU demands another referendum before we have delivered the first, we will make a mockery of democracy. We will look like any other oligarchy where votes are held and the people are nominally consulted, but no one takes any notice, because, as in Moscow, the same crew mysteriously stays in charge.
If we want to uphold liberal values, we must leave by October 31 — and we will.
— The Telegraph Group Ltd, London 2019
Boris Johnson is the former British foreign secretary. He is the front-runner to be the UK’s next prime minister.
