What a strange creature today’s Conservative party is. A visit to the party conference in Manchester last week to address a fringe meeting made me feel both inspired and fearful. Mr Cameron’s government seems to be sprawling across the ideological divide, stealing some ideas from the Liberal Democrats and the Labour Party, while still clinging to a few normally linked with the Thatcherite Right.

Nothing wrong with that, you may say. But where is the intellectual ballast of this government? Without this, it will be difficult to remain consistent and focused – and difficult to tell a convincing story to voters. Concern and good intentions are not enough. On pretty much every issue it needs to have a perspective on how far a government should go in trying to correct society’s ills. On economic policy specifically, it needs to be guided by a perspective on where intervention should begin and end.

The philosophy behind the Government’s economic agenda should be very simple: first, for the things that only governments can do, ensure that they are done really well; second, in the areas where government does not need to be active and/or where it performs much worse than the market, get out; third, where markets seriously malfunction, intervene to ensure that they work tolerably well. If this government wants to stimulate the wellsprings of growth, it needs to apply this philosophy to several key areas: the tax system, education, infrastructure, the housing market and regulation.

David Fuller's view

Here is a PDF of Roger Bootle’s Article.

There is plenty of successful, practical advice in this column by Roger Bootle.  I hope he is carefully listened to by current and perspective PMs and Chancellors of the Exchequer, and all other influential members of the Conservative Party.