Taxes, growth, and wealth creation have been very much on the agenda these past few weeks - and with good reason.
At a time when Britain is debating how to get the economy moving again, the same question has cropped up repeatedly: how do we create a tax system that rewards work, enterprise, investment, and entrepreneurship, rather than holding them back?
I started September at the Ideas Network 2030 Summer University at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, where Alex Burghart MP, Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party, and Sir Simon Clarke, Director at Onward, laid out an impressive, cohesive plan on building a stronger economy for the NextGen. Many thanks to the Hanns Seidel Foundation UK for the kind invitation.
That weekend, I was at another brilliant South West Conservative Policy Forum Conference at Taunton Racecourse, where I chaired a discussion on how we can curb the tax burden on British people. We had excellent contributions from the Rt Hon John Glen MP, Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition, and John O'Connell, CEO at The TaxPayers' Alliance. Congratulations to Marjorie Baylis and the team for putting together another thought-provoking programme.
This week brought the opportunity to hear from - and meet - Dr Arthur Laffer, economist, former adviser to U.S. President Ronald Reagan and, of course, architect of the Laffer Curve, at an event hosted by The Spectator and The Jobs Foundation.
At 86, he was as energetic and entertaining as ever, making a powerful case not simply for the economics of lower taxation, but for its morality too: allowing people to keep more of what they earn and creating the conditions in which enterprise, investment, and prosperity can flourish.
And on one particularly topical question, I couldn't agree more: Britain absolutely must not adopt a wealth tax. We should be backing our wealth creators, entrepreneurs, and investors - not finding yet more ways to tax them.
Finally, I joined a Chartered Institute of Taxation roundtable looking at how the tax system can best support our entrepreneurs and business growth.
The discussion was under the Chatham House Rule, so I can't share the detail, but it was encouraging to see such serious attention being given to an issue that is increasingly central to Britain's economic debate.
Different events and different perspectives, but a common thread: Britain needs growth, and sustainable growth depends on backing the people who take risks, build businesses, create jobs, and generate the wealth on which our public services and a stronger country ultimately depend.
I'll be speaking more about this at the Conservatives For Business events at Conservative Party Conference next month. Register: Panel Discussion and Networking Reception.
