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Redefining Progess, 

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Section 1.2. Conservatives – Redefining Progress
Conservatism and conservation are in fact two aspects of a single long-term policy, which is that of 
husbanding resources … It is as obvious to a conservative that our reckless pursuit of individual 
gratification jeopardises the social order as that it jeopardises the planet.’ 
Roger Scruton, 2006 
‘I believe passionately in the free enterprise system as a creator of wealth, but markets know no 
morality. It is our responsibility, as it has been the tradition of our party throughout its long and 
distinguished history, to bring a balance to the books of life.’ 
Michael Heseltine, 2006
 
1.2.1. Summary 
It is increasingly clear that the global economy must be retooled in order to ensure that it operates 
sustainably, within environmental limits. In this urgent task, it will be the world’s developed countries 
which lead the way. Over nearly three centuries we have grown ever richer but we have done so at the 
expense of the environment upon which our lives depend. We have therefore both the means and the 
obligation to repair the damage.
Here in Britain, in the last 18 months, one major political party has made the running in debating these 
issues and seeking to redefine progress, development, and wellbeing for a new era. That it has been the 
Conservative Party should not have come as a surprise. The notion of treating our natural environment 
with the same care that we treat our social and institutional structures is an inherently conservative 
one.
Already, over three decades, the Conservative Party has ensured that the central role of the market is 
accepted by all sides of the political debate in the United Kingdom. Part of that role is to enable 
society to move on to a sustainable footing. But its effectiveness is inhibited because GDP, the 
measurement of progress that we have adopted, is limited and increasingly perverse. It does not 
adequately measure the health of our environment and society. While it remains crucial as a 
measurement of economic output and productivity, it is ill designed to rate our progress and wellbeing 
in the round. A future Conservative government should adopt new measurements of progress, 
alongside GDP, that measure the other factors which are crucial to human and environmental 
wellbeing. Economic growth is a vital factor in the equation but so is social wellbeing and 
environmental wellbeing. We must therefore look to a leaner, cleaner, more efficient economy which 
respects environmental limits in delivering maximum wellbeing for all. This move to green the 
economy gives us enormous opportunities. The Low Carbon Revolution is our century's equivalent of 
the Industrial Revolution. Now, as then, Britain should be in the vanguard. 
1.2.2. Green conservatism 
In 1990 Chris Patten, in his White Paper 
This Common Inheritance
, laid out Britain’s first throrough-
going vision of sustainability.The year before, Margaret Thatcher had delivered her ground-breaking 
speech on climate change at the United Nations. Both were working within the same Conservative 
tradition as Disraeli in his commitment to a clean public water supply and Eden in introducing the 
Clean Air Act. It was what Ted Heath understood in setting up the Department of Environment and the 
National Rivers Authority,. Later, Margaret Thatcher would continue that tradition creating the 

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Environment Agency and English Nature and becoming the first major Prime Minister to commit to 
the Rio Environment Summit.
Environmental issues have all too often been colonised by the rhetoric of the left . Yet concern for 
continuity, for preserving the stability and protecting the beauty of the natural environment, is a deeply 
Conservative approach. As Roger Scruton writes, ‘Conservatism, as I understand it, means 
maintenance of the social ecology. Conservatism and conservation are in fact two aspects of a single 
long-term policy, which is that of husbanding resources. These resources include the social capital 
embodied in laws, customs and institutions; they also include the material capital contained in the 
environment.’
So, in adopting a green agenda, David Cameron is placing himself in the centre ground of the 
Conservative tradition. What is new is the urgency of his mission. Climate change, pollution, and the 
bio-degradation of the planet demand action and demand it now.
1.2.3. A Conservative society 
Yet, the green agenda cannot be seen as narrowly ecological or merely the necessary response to 
global warming, important as all that is. It is also a recognition that human worth cannot be measured 
by material wealth. It is intrinsic to any notion of conservation that greed distorts our values and limits 
our horizons. Of course, Conservatives have always extolled the social importance of ambition and 
seeking to better oneself. The drive for improvement is a crucial component of a healthy society. But it 
is not the only component. Happiness is a much more complex matter than that. The things that 
motivate individuals – family, friends, faith, and enthusiasms – are often served by economic 
advancement but they are never defined by it. We recognise in them a value and importance that can’t 
be monetised.
Our vision of a good society therefore goes well beyond what is measured by economic indicators. It 
will function well and be at ease with itself if there is widespread recognition of the importance of 
social and economic wellbeing. That’s why Tories have always been more concerned with obligations 
than rights. Individual obligations derive from the recognition of the intrinsic worth of oneself and 
others. A concentration upon rights can all too often descend into selfish demands which admit no 
concomitant duties. The recognition of one’s obligations, however limited, itself confers worth. 
Through it, the individual sees that, whatever his personal economic situation, he matters.
Those obligations are both social and environmental. We owe them to each other and to the planet that 
sustains our life. Together they are a recognition that a healthy and flourishing environment is essential 
for a healthy and flourishing society and both are preconditions for sustainable economic growth. So, 
to try to measure wellbeing as if it could be summed up by Gross Domestic Product is to 
misunderstand the nature of the human condition and to ignore our dependence on each other and our 
environment.
It is this that David Cameron has recognised so clearly. Quite simply, a flourishing Britain must be a 
greener Britain in which we all play our part. As he told the audience of his Scarman Lecture in 2006, 
‘we are all in this together’. Only if all parts of society work together can change be truly effective. 
Government action is clearly crucial but Government action alone is not enough: 
 ‘Government can't on its own deliver a sustainable environment. It can set the right 
frameworks - and I believe that there's far more that government can and should do. But 
sustainable development also depends on the billions of personal decisions that are taken 
every day - in businesses, in communities and in individuals' lives.’ 
 

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This is a vision in which our values as a society are realigned. We judge our progress, not simply by 
the economic numbers, but by the strength of our communities, the health of our social relationships, 
and the health of the natural environment upon which they are based. Rather than an econo-centric 
vision, it is a socio-centric one. This, we believe, will be the context of British politics in the 21st 
century.
1.2.4. Society and Conservative principles 
Mrs Thatcher’s rollback of the State was an essential part of ‘rolling forward society’. Until we had 
established that wellbeing was not a matter of ever more invasive state control, we could not begin to 
show the reality that, instead, it is best fostered by ever more pervasive individual responsibility. The 
State has a role – but it is about enabling and not corralling. It needs to deliver frameworks for 
individuals and groups in which they are encouraged to act for the common good. At its lowest, it 
means ensuring that it is easier to do the right thing than to act selfishly. At its simplest, it is engaging 
people and organisations so that they seek voluntarily to promote those things that enhance and protect 
the environment and our human society.
It is also about our market approach. Instead of wanting the State to intervene and control, 
Conservatives seek only to ensure that the market framework is capable of delivering the nation’s 
requirements and that people, communities, and organisations, whether for profit or not, are 
empowered and trusted to play their proper and fullest role.