A note from our Editor-in-Chief: I am delighted to welcome Grace Blakeley to Zeteo UK as a weekly columnist. The acclaimed author of ‘Vulture Capitalism’ is a fierce critic of neoliberal capitalism who combines accessible theory, sharp analysis and practical solutions. Her pieces for Zeteo UK will sit behind a paywall – so please do support independent journalism and become a paid subscriber to Zeteo UK today. - Mehdi
In his first speech to the House of Commons as prime minister, Andy Burnham stated his intention to end 40 years of neoliberalism. He identified the centralisation of political power, the privatisation of economic power, deindustrialisation and austerity as “wrong turns” the country has taken since the 1980s. Political power had been used to defend vested interests, while economic power had been stripped away from working people. We have become, he said, “A country run in the private rather than public interest.”
The speech sounded radical. Previous prime ministers have tended to praise Thatcher for tackling inflation and unleashing the country’s economic dynamism by deregulating the City and privatising sclerotic state-owned industries. But Burnham knows this interpretation of history is no longer tenable. The UK has been hollowed out by neoliberal rule. Before the financial crisis, this decline was concealed by a financial and property bubble. But since 2008, the failures of neoliberalism have been unmasked.