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17 March 2021

How to remake Britain

Our writers give their view on the UK’s post-Brexit future.

By New Statesman

 John Gray on the perils of grand designs

In a multinational state as divided as Britain has become, an overarching national project is unfeasible. 

Over the past few months, Boris Johnson has bet on a “green industrial revolution” as the avenue for Union-wide economic transformation. Will it pay off? 

A network of civic institutions should form the base of the foundational economy, locally rooted and citizen-led.

We require a “radical reform of British education” to convert schools from narrow exam factories to places of imagination, innovation and technical training.

Linda Colley on the case for a new progressive alliance

Unless first-past-the-post gives way to proportional representation, it will remain difficult to forge the effective coalitions of the righteous and the reforming needed to lead a national project.

These articles are written in response to Roberto Mangabeira Unger’s essay on the future of the UK after Brexit

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This article appears in the 17 Mar 2021 issue of the New Statesman, The system cannot hold