The speech earlier this week by Boris Johnson for the annual Margaret Thatcher lecture entitled What Would Maggie do Today? has been analysed and criticised by lots of people far better placed than me to do so. I read the speech in this reproduction in the Daily Telgraph and I listened to the rather bizarre defence of it by Norman Lamont as part of last nights Radio 4 Any Questions at around 40 minutes in. It is clear that Boris is not wrong in all that he had to say, but what everyone apart from Norman showed they understood is that the negative motivations and selfishness from the heart of his reflection will never lead to a society that most rational and reasonable people would want to live in. The panellists last night apart from Norman were Stella Creasy MP, Susan Kramer and finally Jonathan Porritt who most effectively took apart the dangerous elements that Boris included in his speech, which had been defended by Norman Lamont.

“Like it or not, the free market economy is the only show in town. Britain is competing in an increasingly impatient and globalised economy, in which the competition is getting ever stiffer. No one can ignore the harshness of that competition, or the inequality that it inevitably accentuates; and I am afraid that violent economic centrifuge is operating on human beings who are already very far from equal in raw ability, if not spiritual worth.”

Jonathan pointed out that the effect of this centrifuge is to spin out those who do not make the grade and lack the capacity to compete or succeed. Sadly Norman was not challenged sufficiently on this, largely because of the limit of time available. When Stella Creasy got her chance she spoke about the need to create an equal society which gave Norman his most acerbic line, that what he suggested we need is “Not the dead hand of equality that Labour offered, but equality of opportunity” Stella certainly gave as good as she got and it is worth listening to the exchange. Sadly the most significant question never got answered by Norman Lamont, he stated that competition is a necessity for society, and Jonathon Porritt challenged him to say if this should be competition at all costs – sadly an answer never came.

It is worth reflecting from this weeks news and social media a couple of examples of how the worldview that Boris and Norman Lamont are proud to own, is not the only way of achieving success. The first is a video, take 5 minutes to watch the story of  how one poor lady called Sarah Hoidahl helped out some other people down on their luck, and thanks to the internet, she really did get a reward in this life

The second example is also from America where Jack Macdonald who benefited from the business acumen of his parents and throughout his life gave away significant sums and despite living a very frugal life, has died leaving over £114M all to charities. Whilst these two stories may be exceptions, they both come the same week that Boris and Norman are telling us that the only way of our nation surviving is if we are prepared to be part of a centrifuge, that spits out the many to benefit the few. I like to believe that the Jack Macdonald and Sarah Hoidahl experiences are at least as relevant to consider for the values we want to see in our society, as anything Boris and Norman believe in.