“Removing neoliberalism can put an end to miserabilism, cultural anomie and depression and open the door to a country at peace with itself.”
Britain without neoliberalism would be a Britain that fights back, writes Jon Trickett MP.
What is neoliberalism anyway? It’s a fancy word to describe a system where the corporate elite runs the country like a poundland store. The true moral value is stripped away, and in its place every good – even human relationships – is reduced to its knockdown price. Stripped back and sold off. If you can’t afford it, tough luck. That’s the neoliberal scam—a rigged market built where billionaires emerge triumphant and too many ordinary working families are left to struggle in communities often devoid of any central purpose.
Thatcher developed the explanation. It’s TINA, she said. There Is No Alternative. And in this very idea is the real culture war which we should be fighting. Because we must not accept that there is no escape from the cul-de-sac they drove us into. It is possible to rebuild our communities on a new basis. It really is.
The Left must imagine a Britain which stands up and transforms our broken system, putting Human again in the place of the Market as our central organising principle. We must imagine an economy built for the working communities, not billionaire profiteers. A post-neoliberal Britain suggests a country waking up from a forty-year nightmare.
How would a post-neoliberal country look?
We Would Act to End Poverty
Neoliberalism forced us to expect nothing. It normalised broken transit systems, collapsing hospitals, and extortionate rents while handing tax cuts to the super-rich. It treated vital public infrastructure like a cash cow for corporations rather than a social necessity. Those who couldn’t pay were trapped. When we reject this poison, we will have rediscovered that dignity, community, and power belong to the working class.
We’d Reclaim Our Stolen Assets
Private service monopolies are an outright theft of public wealth.
- Railway bosses extract extortionate fares for trains that never show up.
- Water barons poison our rivers while pocketing fat dividend checks.
- Energy cartels rack up obscene profits while families freeze in their homes.
They might call it the ‘free’ market, but actually it is economic warfare. A transformed Britain wouldn’t politely negotiate with these mega corporations; we’d bring them back into public hands. But don’t let them argue that public ownership is a top-down bureaucracy of the type brought in by Mandelson’s grandfather when he held office in the 1940’s. Our version would be democratically run by workers and local communities, ploughing every penny of profit straight back into the service.
Public Services Would Serve Communities, Not Corporate Bosses
Neoliberalism forced schools, hospitals, and local councils into hunger-games competition. Yet public services exist to serve human needs, not generate corporate yields.
- We’d fully restore a 100% public NHS, driving out private parasites.
- Education would be liberated from corporate managers, and it wouldn’t be a commodity sold to students with expensive loans.
- Childcare and social care would become fully funded.
- Services ought to be universal, not chopped up into market-sized fragments.
Workers would be properly reimbursed and the communities given back their dignity.
The ruling class treats workers like disposable cogs—zero-hours exploitation, starvation wages, and outlawed unions. We will flip the script entirely: union protection, sector-wide collective bargaining to drive up pay, and why not a standard four-day workweek without loss of pay.
Housing Would Be a Human Right, Not a Casino
The British Housing system reveals the full brutality of market fundamentalism. Homes have been transformed into speculative assets for international speculators while working people are priced out and even evicted. A post-neoliberal Britain would end landlord extortion through mass construction of council housing, strict rent controls, and an outright ban on property speculation.
Real Democracy Over Corporate Rule
Neoliberalism gutted our democracy, handing sovereign control to boardrooms and lobbyists. We will dismantle corporate lobbying. Democracy disappears out the door when big money creeps into political life by the window. Why shouldn’t we have empowered local councils, binding citizens’ assemblies, and participatory budgeting?
Green Socialism Over Greenwashing
Corporate climate policy is a dangerous fraud of carbon trading and corporate kickbacks designed to shield the biggest polluters. We would launch a state-directed Green New Deal—nationalising the energy grid, insulating every home, and building world-class public transit to serve people, not profits.
Rebuilding Class Solidarity
Neoliberalism systematically divided groups against one another; it atomised our society and kept us isolated and weak. We will rebuild our communities’ fabric by fully funding libraries, youth hubs, parks, and community centres.
Our Future
Removing neoliberalism can put an end to miserabilism, cultural anomie and depression, and open the door to a country at peace with itself and onto a socialist future where dignity is non-negotiable, solidarity is our law, and human need replaces corporate greed. After forty years of exploitation, it’s time to imagine the unimaginable and then to make it happen.
- Jon Trickett is the Member of Parliament for Normanton and Hemsworth: you can follow him on Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram and TikTok.
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