Order, Order!
Tony Blair makes the case for policy before politics — plus two new Advisers and one more push on our survey
It won’t have escaped many of you that this week Tony Blair published an essay of close to 6,000 words on what he thinks is going wrong in the Government. Within hours it was leading the news. Whatever you make of him or the essay, he still has the power to lead the conversation even though he’s not leading the country.
I’ll leave you to make up your own mind about what to make of it. It covers welfare, energy, defence, immigration, Europe and the shape of the state. It is worth noting, though, that he mentions, in passing, the idea of equalising capital gains with income tax as “something rejected by successive governments for good reason”. We covered those reasons in detail last week.
The headlines have focused on the political implications and the rebuttals, but the part worth the most attention is his theory of politics. Blair’s argument is that British politics keeps getting the order wrong: it does the politics first and the policy second. For example, Labour is asking how to see off Reform before working out what the right thing to do actually is. His answer, which he calls the “radical centre,” is to flip that around. It’s an unhelpfully named term, but the idea underneath is clear enough:
“The centre – properly defined – is where you put policy first and politics last. So, you begin with the question: what is the right answer? And only once you have that do you engage in the political task of persuading people of it.”
Later he adds:
“You work out the correct analysis, then the correct answer, and shape your political strategy around it. Where, therefore, the correct answer requires radical change, the centre should be the radical changemaker.”
(“Changemaker” — another dreadful term.)
This is how Blair has thought about government for thirty years. It’s why, as Prime Minister, he ran delivery units and chased a “what works” pragmatism that often annoyed his own side. His foreword for our essay collection The Way of the Future from a few years ago captures this.
It’s why, when asked recently by the podcaster Dwarkesh Patel what advice he would have given Lee Kuan Yew in the 1960s, he waved the question away as the wrong way round. He had gone to see Lee in Singapore in the 1990s, when he was still Labour leader. Lee’s first words, by Blair’s account, were: “Why are you seeing me? Your party’s always hated me.” Blair’s answer was that he had watched what Lee had done in government and wanted to learn from it. As he wrote when Lee died, Lee “was the first to understand that modern politics was about effective government, not old-fashioned ideology.”
“Britain’s problem,” Blair writes, “isn’t with a ‘Westminster’ bubble. It is with a ‘politics’ bubble.” He thinks, correctly I think, that “the politics of the future may be better understood by those presently outside politics.” It’s certainly true of the people reading this.
Think of the founders navigating the tax system, integrating AI into their businesses, dealing with planning rules and on the front line of energy costs. Entrepreneurs understand what’s coming and what’s needed better than almost anyone inside the politics bubble. I would say the same of those who work closely with founders, as it’s their job to know what’s keeping them up at night.
Closing that gap is the whole point of what we do, which is why I’ll ask you once more to fill in our Entrepreneurs Survey if you haven’t already. It takes about ten minutes. We use it to build the kind of evidence Blair is gesturing at: namely, what founders really think about tax, talent, regulation and Britain’s place in the world, and we take it straight to government and the media. The last wave made the news in Sifted, The Telegraph and City A.M., and fed into our submission to the Treasury. The more founders who respond, the harder our findings are to ignore.
Given Blair’s central message, it’s perhaps ironic that most of the attention has fallen on the political implications of his essay. The bit worth taking from it isn’t about Labour at all. It’s his theory of politics: one that many of the most effective leaders follow. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the great Peter Drucker gave executives the same advice 60 years ago:
“One has to start out with what is right rather than what is acceptable (let alone who is right) precisely because one always has to compromise in the end.”
Pocket Money
We’re delighted to welcome Zara Ransley as an Adviser to The Entrepreneurs Network. Zara is co-founder of MyPocketSkill, an award-winning platform that helps 13- to 25-year-olds earn, save, invest and learn about money. It has a quarter-of-a-million-strong community in the UK and partners including Lloyds Banking Group and the BBC. Find out more, including why she supports The Entrepreneurs Network and backs the UK, here.
Self-Raising
We’re also pleased to welcome Geeta Sidhu-Robb as an Adviser. A multi-award-winning serial entrepreneur, Geeta is now launching The Bootstrappers’ Breakfasts, a national breakfast series and podcast for female founders building their first £1 million, with lessons from women who bootstrapped to £20 million and beyond. It opens in London on 7 July, the first of five UK cities in the series, and is free to attend. She’s also on the lookout for partners to help bring it to life. Do get in touch with her if that’s of interest — you can scroll down here to connect.
Our Next Events
Young Entrepreneurs Forum Meetup: SXSW London
🗓 Wednesday, 3 June 2026
🕐 10:00 to 12:00
📍 Shoreditch, London
ℹ️ Join us for a relaxed morning meetup for young founders building ambitious things in the UK and beyond
⏩ Request a place
JVF Female Founder Ambition Series, Roundtable III: Going Transatlantic
🗓 Wednesday, 3 June 2026
🕐 17:00 to 18:00
📍 Online
ℹ️ The Entrepreneurs Network and the Jessica Vollman Foundation (JVF) are hosting a select group of internationally ambitious female founders for an off-the-record virtual roundtable on what it takes to build a business that works on both sides of the Atlantic
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No Agenda Breakfast: Forsters
🗓 Wednesday, 24 June 2026
🕐 08:45 to 10:00
📍 Baker Street, London
ℹ️ Join us for coffee, pastries, and honest conversation with a dozen entrepreneurs — no agenda, no pitches and no panels
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Ecosystem Builders Meetup: LSE Generate
🗓 Thursday, 2 July 2026
🕐 09:30 to 11:00
📍 LSE, London
ℹ️ Join The Entrepreneurs Network for an informal morning meetup for Ecosystem Builders at LSE Generate
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News and Views
Keir Starmer’s response to Blair — defending his plan and his Government’s record
Andy Burnham’s response — making the case for state control and devolution
Wes Streeting’s response — warning that inequality, not technology, is the real crisis
Here’s a handy tl;dr of all four essays courtesy of our friends at the Centre for British Progress
One in six people aged 16-24 will not be in education, employment or training within five years
Seven things to like about British manufacturing
An interactive chart of all 90 UK taxes
Top chefs and restaurant owners have urged that VAT for restaurants and pubs should be cut to 10%
The gap between London house prices and those in other UK cities is at its narrowest since 2009 (Paywall – Financial Times)
Why innovation can be systematic, scalable and repeatable
A quiet mountain of regulatory accumulation may be stifling American startups
Matt Clifford on philosophy, economics, sci-fi, and the British constitution
How can the coming wave of tech philanthropists convert risk appetite into huge outcomes?
Join Us
Our Supporters, Advisers and Strategic Partners are essential to helping us understand what entrepreneurs need to flourish, and are closely connected with our work. If you already support us — thank you. If you don’t, please consider helping us make the UK the best place in the world to start and grow a business.
Friends of the Network
Deployment Mastery: Launching High-Performance AI Agents
🗓️ Wednesday 9 September 2026
🕐 13:00 to 14:00
📍 Online
ℹ️ You’ve built them, you’ve tested them – now it’s time to get them working for you
⏩ Find out more
Support for UK Entrepreneurs
We’re often asked where founders should turn for practical support beyond policy. So we’ve curated a list of government sites and trusted organisations we regularly recommend. Each week, I’ll share a section from our Support for UK Entrepreneurs page. What are we missing? Let us know.
Exporting and International Expansion
UK Export Finance provides government-backed guarantees, insurance and guidance to support UK exporters.
Export Support Service provides free, tailored advice to UK businesses on exporting rules, customs and international trade issues.
Wise provides global money transfers. Click here for your first transfer fee-free, up to £10,000.
Scottish Development International provides export advice, market intelligence and international growth support to Scottish businesses. (Scotland only)
Business Wales Export Support provides advice and support to help Welsh businesses expand into overseas markets. (Wales only)
Invest Northern Ireland Trade Services provides export advisory support and access to trade missions for businesses in Northern Ireland. (Northern Ireland only)
Best wishes,
Philip
Philip Salter
Founder
The Entrepreneurs Network