A fascinating recent interview (52:31) with Amy Wax on Spectator TV.
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Justice for Men & Boys 
Quite a character. “conservative” can mean different things in the American context as I’d think of her positions s being “liberal”. Believing myself to be liberal in the sense of freedom and pragmatism based in reality. She’s very good at distilling issues into principles. I think her point about the decline in analytical thought based on empirical data is very pertinent to the UK. In terms of public policy one of the clear distinctions between the US and the UK in the past was that the US often used data and research in policy formation, even if the data was just the “start of the conversation”, while in the UK (frustratingly) research and data was rarely referenced and certainly almost never used. Even though the UK Gov. funds huge swathes of research through the various research “Councils” and collects vast amount of data in its various departments. Over time I came to the view that was partly due to the American separation of executive and legislature meaning ministers were appointed as supposed experts and the Senators and Representatives had to be well briefed to hold hem account. One can see this in the amateurishness of UK “select committees” compared to those in Congress.
This dynamic also means that Civil Servants primary purpose is to support the minister, no matter how silly they are, and ensure nothing (lake for instance facts or reality) impedes them. Hence for instance “consultations” that only include carefully selected agents or reports in which the conclusions and recommendations frequently contradict data presented in the body of the report. Making the UK even more vulnerable to policy formation and action based on “bad cases” anecdotes and political prejudices.
A simple example is of course in Domestic Violence/Abuse for at least the nearly 30 years I’ve taken a close interest, the Gov. data has even appeared in report after report, showing pretty consistently that a third of the abused are male and that this is “underreported” yet conclusions, executive summaries and policies are always based on the “feeling” that in fact men are not victims and are not to be believed even if the evidence is otherwise. And to support this are emotional appeals based on sad stories.
If the US is heading down this road the UK has no hope!
Oh. And I rather liked the example of the Democrats being the “party of shoplifting”, applying a principle, the protection of property, to a policy that clearly supports theft; in a pithy and memorable way.
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