Boris throws off the shackles!

Boris throws off the shackles!

So far, so good.

I’m writing this column in the hours after our new prime minister announced his top tier ministerial appointments.

And the signs are clear: Boris Johnson appears to have constructed the most freedom-loving and libertarian cabinet in recent British political history.

Released from the dismal shackles of Theresa May’s desperate efforts to triangulate both on Brexit and on the role of the state, Johnson has opted for a clarity of outcome and purpose against both issues.

Indeed, it would appear in his choice of cabinet members, he believes that Brexit, especially one based on World Trade Organisation rules, is not an end in itself. Rather it is also a mechanism for further freeing the skills and energy of the British people from the distortions and vested state interests of a restrictive and cunning elite.

His intention to ensure that we have left the European Union (EU) by 31 October is, of course, a reflection of his respect for the votes of the 17.4m people who voted to leave the entity in 2016.

A fundamental and active belief that adults know their own minds is at the heart of libertarianism. All the liberal and socialist propaganda cannot erase this simple fact: the majority in the biggest poll in this country’s history will no longer be patronised and ignored.

If the unelected bureaucrats who sit atop the EU’s various bureaucratic structures think they can call this administration’s bluff, they are in for the surprises of their pampered lives.

The Johnson administration is focussed on ensuring that the next three months are spent in preparing the country for the positives of an exit. A negotiated deal could well have mutual advantages, but the EU needs to shift from its current stance of intransigence to one that recognises the UK as an equal future trading partner.

This country’s exit from the EU will be the perfect opportunity to chop away at all the nonsense that has stifled risk-taking and business-building over the years.

Priti Patel, our new home secretary, wrote in Britainnia Unchained in 2016 that “if we could just halve the burdens of the EU social and employment legislation we could deliver a £4.3bn boost to our economy and 60,000 new jobs.”

Her collaborators in this book include, Liz Truss, Dominic Raab and Kwasi Kwarteng, now respectively the international development secretary, the foreign secretary and the business minister.

These libertarians now have such an important role in keeping the administration true in championing free markets, free trade and the rule of law.

I also understand that Sajid Javid, the chancellor of the exchequer, is also heavily influenced by the writings of Ayn Rand, the godmother of modern libertarian thought.

Javid now has the perfect opportunity to implement his tax cutting sentiments, starting with income tax, further reductions in corporation tax and the abolition of the most damaging input imaginable – business rates – and their replacement with a sales tax.

My only worry – at this stage, at least – about the new administration – is that it doesn’t suddenly flood society with a spending splurge that results in the return of inflation and lower confidence and growth.

Indeed, for me, I’d like to see all direct state spending fall in real terms. People are better at wisely spending their own money than the legions of state bureaucrats that still exist to tell us what to do.

The only legitimate areas of state involvement that may need to increase over the medium term are infrastructure spending to accelerate future economic growth and specific defence upgrades, not least that needed to secure important trade routes from rogue states.

The Johnson administration has the potential to be one of the most liberating ever. I shall be one of its critical friends in helping it keep to its vision of a better Britain.

Ends.