Conservative Thinkers and the Post-War State, 1945–79

Abstract

This chapter examines the reaction of conservative thinkers between 1945 and 1979 to the growth of the post-war state in Britain. It argues that in the earlier post-war period conservatives were broadly united in opposing the state’s growth on the basis of arguments put forward by the political philosopher Michael Oakeshott. Oakeshott rejected arguments based on libertarianism or natural law, but nevertheless emphasized the importance of upholding individual liberty, stressing the value of traditional constitutional arrangements, private property, patriotism, and the rule of law. However, by the 1960s and 1970s, the challenges of the permissive society, an increasingly large tax burden, and constitutional problems associated with both the EEC and Scottish and Welsh nationalism led to a wide variety of responses. Some stressed the importance of upholding the state’s authority, others the necessity of lowering taxes, and others again the vital nature of constitutional reform.