The Conservative movement is an odd beast. It contains all sorts of strange people with even stranger ideas. You get some who think the answer to our economic problems is to cut regulations (John Longworth et al) while others believe we should reduce taxes on business (John Redwood). Patrick Minford thinks we need to eliminate import tariffs altogether and trade without any tariffs or non-tariff barriers, allowing anything and everything to come in unchecked. And then along comes the Attorney General, Geoffrey Cox, who seems to be the oddest oddball of all and was said to have "wowed" the party conference earlier this week (HERE) and (HERE) with Milton and the Rolling Stones!
He thinks the way to see the virtues of Brexit is to quote a 400 year old treatise against censorship by John Milton called Aeropagitica including this:
"Methinks I see in my mind a noble and puissant Nation rousing herself like a strong man after sleep, and shaking her invincible locks: Methinks I see her as an Eagle muing her mighty youth, and kindling her undazl'd eyes at the full midday beam"
Following Brexit, Britain will (in Cox's fevered imagination) rise up like a strong man after the 44 year sleep we have had to endure in the clutches of the evil EU. All will be well, if only we believe.
He says we shouldn't fear self government as if we have been occupied by a foreign power. What we should fear is government by idiots like him who are responsible for Brexit. It will be the first government since the Glorious Revolution whose main policy will intentionally make us poorer.
What a pity he didn't quote the passage before in Aeropagitica which goes like this:
"...it betok'ns us not degenerated, nor drooping to a fatall decay, but casting off the old and wrincl'd skin of corruption to outlive these pangs and wax young again, entring the glorious waies of Truth and prosperous vertue destin'd to become great and honourable in these latter ages".
Brexit will never be thought of as "entring the glorious waies of Truth" since it is built on a rotten and shaky foundation of lies.
In the speech he talked of the, "special genius of the British people" as though this was the received truth. I take it as a reference to the effortless way we lost entire industries over the last 150 years or so. Shipbuilding, motor cars, motor cycles, chocolate confectionery, cement, hosiery, etc, etc. Effortless is a good word. He should leave the courtroom for a week or two and take a tour of industry - here and in Europe. A romantic belief in British exceptionalism simply will not cut it after Brexit no matter how much Milton he quotes.
As far as I know not one of these guys has any practical ideas about how we can reverse a century of declining fortunes. Some of the ones I mention above are like quack doctors offering snake oil solutions for our poor productivity for instance. The economy will take off if we just tweak the incentives a bit. Ignore the fundamental issues like producing world-class goods at affordable prices and try a magic wand. This blog post from March 2017 might be of interest to Mr Cox. Korea installed 38,300 robots in 2015 and Germany 20,105. We managed just 1,645. This is our "special genius".
But perhaps he is proposing a longer term answer. To broadcast Milton over the PA system the length and breadth of the land. Paradise Lost, for example to help workers toiling away in the mills to reach new heights of production using hand tools only of course. There's something noble about a hammer isn't there? I wonder if Pyongyang might be interested in his services?
If you're that way inclined you can read the full text of Aeropagitica (HERE). We have much to be proud of in this country, Milton is to be revered as one of our greatest writers but is he relevant to the modern world? No, not really.
