A ‘small state’ approach must be carefully handled during a cost-of-living crisis

After a period of toing and froing within Downing Street, we seem to be entering the next phase of Boris Johnson’s “reset” of his premiership.

This week he will be heading on a mini-tour of the UK, designed to show that the prime minister and his party care more about the country than internal power struggles (with the added bonus of also helping to move away from the machinations of the Metropolitan Police investigation into Partygate).

Ahead of the trip, Mr Johnson – who will also, no doubt, be keeping a close eye on developments in Ukraine – said: “I’m getting out of London this week and taking a simple message with me – this government is getting on with the job of uniting and levelling up the country.”

This attempt to return to a broader message about governing the country coincides with the first meaningful public comments from Mr Johnson’s new chief of staff, Steve Barclay. Mr Barclay has said it is now a “priority to restore a smaller state” – or, in other words, to return to traditional conservative values. If the prime minister is seeking to show the country he is in control and moving forward, then Mr Barclay’s words can be read as an attempt to reassure MPs that Downing Street hasn’t forgotten some of the key principles of conservatism and the spending that was required to tackle the effects of Covid-19.

While the spending decisions taken during the pandemic were the right ones, Mr Barclay wrote in The Sunday Telegraph, it is now time for a reduction in government influence “both financially and in taking a step back from people’s lives”.

He went on to say: “It’s time to return to a more enabling approach. To trust the people, return power to communities, and free up business to deliver.” His comments appear to mirror the prime minister’s approach to relaxing Covid restrictions on people’s lives.

The problem with a return to concentrating on the levelling-up agenda, as the prime minister’s planned visits suggests, is that people expect proper investment to back up the ideas – the “12 big missions” laid out in the white paper – and the slogan. Michael Gove, the levelling up secretary, has already had to defend the plans from criticism that they amount to nothing more than “rehashed” announcements – and while he has been slick, he has not sounded entirely convincing.

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The fact that remarks made by one of Mr Gove’s advisers on the levelling-up project – Professor Sir Paul Collier – have come in for severe criticism from anti-racism campaigners, highlighted by The Independent, will not help matters.

When you combine the need for investment in left-behind areas with a worsening cost-of-living crisis, then the government has to tread a careful path when it comes to reducing the role of the state. While the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has announced some help for those affected by rising energy bills, there have been plenty of calls for extra help, with particular focus on those making huge profits as working people struggle – another issue highlighted by reporting in The Independent. An “enabling” approach to governing would have to be carefully calibrated to make sure that the most vulnerable are not left behind.

There was no doubt that Downing Street was in need of a reset – and a renewed focus on the issues facing so many across the nation. However, it is the job of the prime minister and those around him to ensure that it amounts to more than just lip service.