The Capitalist

Britain is in trouble. Its economy is stagnant, and its politics are in turmoil, with Andy Burnham set to be our seventh prime minister in a decade. Yet former chancellor Jeremy Hunt has a surprisingly upbeat take on Britain’s potential – if our politicians can be bold enough.
In this episode of The Capitalist, he sits down to discuss his new book, ‘Can We Be Rich Again?’
Hunt advocates a radical programme for growth, and has a warning for Andy Burnham – reform welfare on day one, or see your administration fail like Keir Starmer’s.
For Hunt, scrapping the pension triple lock is now an economic and moral necessity. And he says we’ve got devolution completely wrong; if that’s Burnham’s big idea, he needs to fix it, fast.
He also discusses why our hidden strengths mean Britain is still on course to become the world’s fifth-biggest economy, and why its best days can still lie ahead.


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From Disraeli's One Nation vision to Thatcher's Right to Buy, aspiration was once the animating principle of British conservatism. Yet after 14 years of Conservative government, the housing crisis has torn up the old promises of reward for hard work. In the 1990s, a first-time buyer couple saving 5% of their wages could afford a deposit in three years. Today it would take 24.
How did the Conservative commitment to encouraging aspiration slip away – and what would it take to restore it?
Mario Creatura, a former special adviser to Theresa May in Downing Street, joins CapX editor Marc Sidwell to discuss 'A Blue Hope', Mario's new report for the Centre for Policy Studies. He explains what pushed ambition and opportunity off the Conservative agenda – and how to bring them back.


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Ten years ago, Matthew Elliott ran the campaign that changed Britain forever. As the architect of Vote Leave, he helped deliver a result that almost nobody – including many on his own side – genuinely believed would happen.
A decade on, with some senior Labour figures openly discussing a return to the EU, Lord Elliott joins The Capitalist to look back at how Brexit was really won, and to make the case for why the battle isn’t over yet. He draws on his new book, ‘Ten Years On: The Untold Story of Brexit’, to reveal what really happened inside the campaign – and why he believes the argument for British independence remains as urgent as ever.


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Britain's national debt is heading for £3 trillion. Servicing it costs roughly the annual wages of four million full-time workers. And a former chief economist of the IMF is now putting the odds of a major debt crisis before 2030 at better than fifty-fifty.
Independent economist Damian Pudner argues that the Government is running out of options quicker than many believe. Rachel Reeves can continue hoping for growth, or raise taxes or spend less. She and her colleagues aren't doing much more than talk about the first, they're running out of room on the second, and they will not discuss the third. That, Pudner concludes, is how you end up with the IMF knocking on the door.
Each week we bring you an example of the best writing from CapX, read aloud. For hosted conversations, listen to The Capitalist, every Wednesday.
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Keir Starmer is giving tech companies three months to activate on-device content scanning and age verification across all smartphones and tablets sold in Britain – or face fines and potentially criminal liability. Framed as a child safety measure, the proposal has drawn fierce criticism from privacy advocates, civil liberties groups and free speech lawyers who warn it amounts to building a mass surveillance infrastructure under the pretext of safety. The messaging app Signal has already said it will not comply – will others follow? CapX Editor Marc Sidwell speaks with Preston Byrne, free speech lawyer and counsel to some of the internet's most controversial platforms, about what this proposal actually represents beneath the child-safety framing – and what it could mean for Britain’s tech sector.


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