A better Britain for the taking

Improve the digital skills of Britons, more than “10m [of whom]s cannot send an email or shop online … universal digital literacy will be as important in this century as traditional literacy was 150 years ago”. (This echoes — or should echo for those who listen — Simon Tilford’s recent point that the UK lags behind badly behind even on traditional literacy.)

Third, update employment law to reflect “the jobs of tomorrow … with multiple employers and flexible contracts” but giving them safety nets and social protections. Fourth, “stronger regional growth”. (Britain’s highly uneven regional development was also highlighted by Tilford — and by the evidence below.) Fifth, “champion more competitive markets that work for consumers … taking on monopolies and incumbents”.

These are all excellent ideas. And they have nothing to do with the EU. If they can make Britain work for everyone outside the EU, they could have made Britain work for everyone just as well inside the EU. In fact, they could work better inside the EU, if Tilford is right that “Brexit risks aggravating most, if not all, of these problems”.