Jeremy Hunt doled out the bad news in an autumn statement laden with tax rises and spending cuts, but he sought to buoy the fairly muted Tory benches behind him with a few nods to Thatcherism.
It was not the “iron lady” herself he channelled, but rather her second chancellor, Nigel Lawson, and his famed “big bang” deregulation drive that unshackled the financial markets and let business boom in the City.
Hunt promised a bonfire of EU red tape for industries such as digital, life sciences and financial services, arguing that the success of Lawson’s drive back in 1986 had shown that “smart regulatory reform can spur investment from all over the world”.
Given the original big bang helped London become a magnet for international banks, in part by allowing foreign firms to own UK brokers, Hunt suggested he would emulate that success with supply-side reforms built on “our Brexit freedoms”.
Hunt, a former remain supporter, is treated with suspicion by some backbenchers. However, his comments earned him a hearty cheer from MPs who, until that point, had largely remained silent and slumped in their seats.
Doubling down on praise for Thatcher and Lawson’s mission, Hunt name-dropped the former chancellor twice more – and praised his belief that “the most important driver of global success is not tax subsidies, but competition”.
While Hunt wants to rescue Britain from another economic slump, with moves inspired by the original big bang, it had its fair share of critics.
Thatcher and Lawson’s move was blamed by some for being a stepping stone towards the 2008 credit crunch.
One David Willetts, who worked in Thatcher’s No 10 policy unit but went on to become a Conservative minister, warned at the time that the deregulation drive could lead to “boom and bust” as well as “unethical behaviour”.
Hunt may be wise to heed the lessons of 1986.
