Covenantal speeches

The Prime Minister exposed the deeper meaning of Jubilee paraphernalia like bunting and BBQs. Much more than symbolic, such celebration is a means of personally partaking in the family of the Commonwealth. Next week’s festivities will serve as an expression of...

Each year, the State Opening of Parliament brings together the Commoners and Lords to hear the Monarch set out the government’s legislative agenda for the year ahead. This year Prince Charles read the speech, which detailed a range of bills that will come before both...

In her response to the debate on ‘power in communities’, Nandy reaffirmed her commitment to seeing and honouring the assets of every place in her ode to the British people and their affection for the places they live. As usual, we ignore the party political point...

The Unit is increasingly spotting covenantal credentials on Whitehall as much as in the Commons. In his ‘Mais Lecture’ the Chancellor set the record straight on Adam Smith’s oft misunderstood 'invisible hand’. "Smiths account of the market economy, is not as...

This week, the debate on the new Covid-19 regulations saw MPs from across the House venture into new political territory. Could a new radical consensus be emerging from the fall out over the restrictions? On Tuesday night, both left and right resisted authoritarian...

This week, the debate on the new Covid-19 regulations saw MPs from across the House venture into new political territory. Could a new radical consensus be emerging from the fall out over the restrictions? On Tuesday night, both left and right resisted authoritarian...

Speaking to his Ten Minute Rule Motion on a ‘Community Wealth Fund’, Paul argued that both places and people are matter - social as much as physical infrastructure - and that we must level up by devolving down to communities. Read more here....

There are two kinds of libertarians: those who are indifferent to the condition of society as long as the individual can pursue his or her desires, and those who believe that society is strengthened by individuals having as much freedom as possible. The latter is...

Over on the Opposition benches, we detected the covenantal tradition within left wing politics too. Rebecca Long-Bailey, known for her service in Jeremy Corbyn’s Shadow Cabinet, is usually thought of as a statist rather than a communitarian. But in the lesser known...

This week, James Daly MP called on the Minister for Sport to help his constituents buy Gigg Lane, the home stadium of Bury Football Club. In an Urgent Question about the ‘Fan Led Review of Football Governance’ published on Thursday, Daly asked the Minister: ‘As the...

Brexit may be done but there is more we can do to secure sovereignty to local places too. The Finance Bill debate saw John McDonnell praise the inaugural recipient of this prize, Jerome Mayhew MP, who welcomed the draught beer relief for it provides £100 million a...

During a statement on COP26, The Prime Minister appealed to the ancient, Classical covenanter, Aristotle, whose legacy has long taught us that to live excellently is to live virtuously, and to practice this skill. Read more here....

The Secretary of State himself gave witness to the Levelling Up Select Committee this week in another display of unwavering commitment to the new social covenant. Responding to a question from the MP for Stockton South, Matt Vickers, about the role of ‘street votes’...

'Big state does not create the best conditions for human freedom and flourishing. There are many problems that the Government cannot solve and the Government cannot make us good. 'The ambition must be to develop a new social covenant where the Government provide the...

Jo Gideon MP championed principles of the new social covenant in the budget debate on Monday night.  Jo said that levelling up is about 'owning' the challenges and the solutions that her constituency faces by 'trusting the people and investing in our social...

The MP for Broadland, Jerome Mayhew, asked the Minister of State, Kemi Badenoch if ‘levelling up’ is more than a transfer of resources from South to North but rather 'that it spreads the opportunities often seen in cities to the towns and villages of our communities,...