Just before Christmas, Sajid Javid performed a ritual he has observed twice a year throughout his adult life: he read the courtroom scene in The Fountainhead. To Ayn Rand fans, its famous: the hero declares his principles and his willingness to be imprisoned for them if need be. As a student, Javid read the passage to his now-wife, but only once she told him shed have nothing more to do with him if he tried it again. Its about the power of the individual, he says. About sticking up for your beliefs, against popular opinion. Being that individual that really believes in something and goes for it.
As Communities Secretary, he oversees the planning system and has embarked upon a new mission: addressing the housing shortage which he says has become one of Britains worst social curses. The estimate is that there are at least two million people out there who cant find decent homes and are being forced to live with parents or in overcrowded conditions. Were dealing with a 30-year backlog. He aims to increase the number of homes built from 190,000 a year to between 225,000 and 275,000 at least. And so he has become the latest in a long line of ministers to promise to do something about a housing shortage.
Why, I ask, should we believe hell have any more success than his predecessors? People are right to be a bit sceptical because theyve heard it from governments over 30 years, he says. But Javid has new tools: more support for so-called factory homes pre-fabricated buildings that he says can be erected on-site within a week. And the biggest constraint, he says, is lack of the fundamental raw material: land. This, he says, is where government can help. He plans a use-it-or-lose-it planning permission system to stop developers hoarding land while they wait for its value to rise.
More controversially, there will be a more muscular approach to councils who refuse planning permission; even (or, indeed, especially) Tory ones. Javid has said hell honour the party manifesto commitment to sparing the green belt, but there are exceptions like 6,000 new homes recently authorised outside Birmingham, to the fury of the local Tory MP, former chief whip Andrew Mitchell. He promptly declared war on Javid and has been waging it ever since.
Javid expects more such wars, not just over housing but over the definition of Conservatism. One of the reasons, or the main reason, I joined the Conservative party was to promote social progress and social mobility, he says. The biggest barrier to social progress is our broken housing market. Fixing it means taking on a number of vested interests. It might make me a bit unpopular, but as long as I know Im doing the right thing which I do then thats what Im in politics for.
I ask about the property crash that was supposed to follow the Brexit vote, making homes much more affordable. He laughs, politely. He was an unexpected recruit to the Remain side, to the dismay of many Tories who assumed hed been bought off by David Cameron. The truth is more complicated. Javid has always been a vocal Eurosceptic, but as the referendum approached he decided he could not go so far as backing Brexit.
He told me about his decision during the campaign. Part of him, he said then, would feel a great sense of elation at the freedom and opportunity if Britain voted to leave. But as Business Secretary, he believed the companies who told him of their fears about leaving. As a former banker, too, he feared for the City if financial firms were to lose their passporting rights to do business across the EU. His decision was made with a rather heavy heart, knowing that, in such a polarising campaign, hed please neither side and be portrayed as being all bark and no Brexit.
Has this episode damaged him politically? I dont look at it that way, he says, almost convincingly. The way I see it, you pay a much bigger price if you dont stand up for your beliefs.
This is one of the many ways in which Sajid Javid is not a very good machine politician. Hes the son of a Muslim bus driver who prefers to let others talk about his roots unlike another son of a bus driver, Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, who has a gift for dropping his background into every interview. The biography-is-destiny approach to politics has never appealed to Javid. He grew up in poverty but ended up as a vice-president of Chase Manhattan Bank at the age of 25 he says he struggles to see what he has to complain about.
He found out a few years ago, for instance, that his early home life would nowadays would be categorised as homelessness a family of seven cramped into two bedrooms. But I would not pretend for a moment that I was homeless, he says. I had a loving family, a loving home and a lovely environment to grow up in. Such restraint has its virtues, but could be seen as folly in an era when politicians are expected to blend what they say with who they are and where they came from.
Javid joined the party leadership race last year as the running mate of Stephen Crabb, whose cabinet career was brought to an abrupt end by a sexting scandal. When the winner, Theresa May, signalled a new direction for the Tories, using her party conference speech to attack the socialist left and libertarian right, it sounded as if she might have Ayn Rand-reading cabinet members in mind.
Javid suggests that his definition of politics is the same as Margaret Thatchers: about doing something, not being someone. He sees the Tories as the party of change and opportunity, and says such principles underpin his housing reforms and if they upset fellow Tories, then so be it.
The Conservative party that I joined is not a party that stands up for the privileged and the moneyed, he said. We stand up for ordinary hard-working people helping them to get on in life. And if this means a few more battles with Tory councils andMPs over where to build houses, then he is ready for thefight.
Link:
The Ayn Rand scene Sajid Javid reads every year - Spectator.co.uk
- Voices for Reason Blog | The Ayn Rand Institute [Last Updated On: December 9th, 2016] [Originally Added On: December 9th, 2016]
- Media, morality and the neighbors cow: When did Ayn Rand become the ... [Last Updated On: December 14th, 2016] [Originally Added On: December 14th, 2016]
- How Ayn Rands theories destroyed Never Trump conservatism [Last Updated On: December 14th, 2016] [Originally Added On: December 14th, 2016]
- Ayn Rand's Progressive Readers are Misguided | National Review [Last Updated On: December 14th, 2016] [Originally Added On: December 14th, 2016]
- The Daily 202: Ayn Rand-acolyte Donald Trump stacks his cabinet with ... [Last Updated On: December 14th, 2016] [Originally Added On: December 14th, 2016]
- The scary ghost of Ayn Rand looms over the Trump cabinet [Last Updated On: December 18th, 2016] [Originally Added On: December 18th, 2016]
- Fountainhead of bad ideas: Ayn Rands fanboys take the reins ... [Last Updated On: December 18th, 2016] [Originally Added On: December 18th, 2016]
- Ayn Rand Institute eStore : Ayn Rand [Last Updated On: January 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: January 11th, 2017]
- Ayn Rand Made US a Selfish, Greedy Nation [Last Updated On: January 20th, 2017] [Originally Added On: January 20th, 2017]
- Ayn Rand and the Invincible Cult of Selfishness on the ... [Last Updated On: January 24th, 2017] [Originally Added On: January 24th, 2017]
- The Ayn Rand in Donald Trump: The Virtue of America First | The ... - American Spectator [Last Updated On: February 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 13th, 2017]
- Would Ayn Rand Have Cast President Trump As A Villain? | Zero ... [Last Updated On: February 15th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 15th, 2017]
- Jerome Tuccille, Author of It Usually Begins With Ayn Rand and More, RIP - Reason (blog) [Last Updated On: February 18th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 18th, 2017]
- Ayn Rand Contra Nietzsche - The Objective Standard [Last Updated On: February 22nd, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 22nd, 2017]
- Judging Milo Yiannopoulos, ft. Ayn Rand (Episode #24 of MY PODCAST) - ChicagoNow (blog) [Last Updated On: February 23rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 23rd, 2017]
- How Much Ayn Rand Is There in Trump's 'America First' Foreign ... - American Spectator [Last Updated On: March 1st, 2017] [Originally Added On: March 1st, 2017]
- Who Is Ayn Rand? - The Objective Standard - The Objective Standard [Last Updated On: March 8th, 2017] [Originally Added On: March 8th, 2017]
- Cheer Up, Justin Amash! There's No Need to Cry Over One Missed Vote. - Slate Magazine (blog) [Last Updated On: March 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: March 11th, 2017]
- No sympathy: How Ayn Rand's elitism lives on in the Trump ... - Salon - Salon [Last Updated On: April 8th, 2017] [Originally Added On: April 8th, 2017]
- How Ayn Rand's 'elitism' lives on in the Donald Trump ... [Last Updated On: April 8th, 2017] [Originally Added On: April 8th, 2017]
- Mick Mulvaney's snake oil: A blend of bad science, bad math and really bad politics - Salon [Last Updated On: June 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 6th, 2017]
- Make the magic money tree work for everyone, not just the rich - The Guardian [Last Updated On: June 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 6th, 2017]
- Neo-Tech Views On Ayn Rand and Objectivism | Good Herald - Good Herald [Last Updated On: June 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 6th, 2017]
- Elate's Revival of Ayn Rand's NIGHT OF JANUARY 16TH Opens 6/3 - Broadway World [Last Updated On: June 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 6th, 2017]
- Is Germany Blowing It? - The Awl [Last Updated On: June 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 7th, 2017]
- Letter: Deregulation is not always best - Aiken Standard [Last Updated On: June 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 11th, 2017]
- How the Dark Web's Dread Pirate Roberts Went Down - New York Times [Last Updated On: June 12th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 12th, 2017]
- Trump's Credibility Problem - National Review [Last Updated On: June 12th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 12th, 2017]
- Trump & Ryan's (Tryan's) Co-Conspiracy in Moral Bankruptcy - The Good Men Project (blog) [Last Updated On: June 12th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 12th, 2017]
- Shall we all hang separately? - Nevada Appeal [Last Updated On: June 14th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 14th, 2017]
- PBS Is Airing Right-Wing-Sponsored School Privatization Propaganda - The National Memo (blog) [Last Updated On: June 16th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 16th, 2017]
- South Fayette educator and coach has the music in him - Observer-Reporter [Last Updated On: June 16th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 16th, 2017]
- Tech Talk: Israel's Fortune 500 companies - The Jerusalem Post [Last Updated On: June 16th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 16th, 2017]
- The Fountainhead: American Eclectic - Patheos (blog) [Last Updated On: June 17th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 17th, 2017]
- NY Times, After 'Corrections,' Still Has Palin-Giffords 'Targeting' Myth in Scalise Shooting Editorial - NewsBusters (press release) (blog) [Last Updated On: June 17th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 17th, 2017]
- Both parties responsible for economic failings - Alpena News [Last Updated On: June 18th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 18th, 2017]
- Wayne LaPierre, Tomi Lahren, and a Rally Cry From Young Conservative Women - D Magazine [Last Updated On: June 20th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 20th, 2017]
- Goodbye Reason, Hello Violence - Townhall [Last Updated On: June 21st, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 21st, 2017]
- Selfie by Will Storr review are the young really so self-obsessed? - The Guardian [Last Updated On: June 21st, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 21st, 2017]
- If You Saw Uber's CEO Testify Before the DC Council, His Downfall May Come as No Surprise - HuffPost [Last Updated On: June 21st, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 21st, 2017]
- Working toward graduation: 50 SPS students participate in credit recovery program - Stillwater News Press [Last Updated On: June 21st, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 21st, 2017]
- Ayn Rand | American author | Britannica.com [Last Updated On: June 21st, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 21st, 2017]
- Travis Kalanick may have resigned as Uber's CEO but he isn't going away - Washington Post [Last Updated On: June 22nd, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 22nd, 2017]
- 'Fargo' Season 3 finale recap: A mostly satisfying, but ambiguous ending - Baltimore Sun [Last Updated On: June 22nd, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 22nd, 2017]
- London Theater Review: Topical Drama 'Terror' - Variety [Last Updated On: June 23rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 23rd, 2017]
- Paul Ryan conflicted by Jesus Christ and Ayn Rand -- Norman Jensen - Madison.com [Last Updated On: June 24th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 24th, 2017]
- BOB BARR: Goodbye reason, Hello violence - MDJOnline.com [Last Updated On: June 26th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 26th, 2017]
- Lowell Thomas, the Original 'Voice of America' - The Weekly Standard [Last Updated On: June 26th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 26th, 2017]
- This Classic Colonial Revival in Westchester Has Impressive Literary Ties - Mansion Global [Last Updated On: June 26th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 26th, 2017]
- The Continuing Scourge of Tenant Harassment: If You Don't Like It, Move. - The Nonprofit Quarterly (registration) [Last Updated On: June 27th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 27th, 2017]
- The least of these - Ashland Daily Press [Last Updated On: June 30th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 30th, 2017]
- Why can't self-satisfied liberals admit that conservatives care about people, too? - The Week Magazine [Last Updated On: June 30th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 30th, 2017]
- Letter: Things aren't going so well under President Trump - Detroit Lakes Online [Last Updated On: July 2nd, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 2nd, 2017]
- J. Talbot Manvel: Declaration of Independence joined morality and law - CapitalGazette.com [Last Updated On: July 2nd, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 2nd, 2017]
- I watched the sun set on my Sunset Boulevard romance - Los Angeles Times [Last Updated On: July 2nd, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 2nd, 2017]
- Republican states raising taxes, not lowering them | The Seattle Times - The Seattle Times [Last Updated On: July 3rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 3rd, 2017]
- Takers and Fakers - New York Times (blog) [Last Updated On: July 14th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 14th, 2017]
- BOB BARR: Violent tribalism on display in Charlottesville - MDJOnline.com [Last Updated On: August 24th, 2017] [Originally Added On: August 24th, 2017]
- Is There Really an 'Insidious Libertarian-To-Alt-Right Pipeline'? - Reason (blog) [Last Updated On: August 24th, 2017] [Originally Added On: August 24th, 2017]
- 30 important life lessons Dirty Dancing taught us - EW.com [Last Updated On: August 24th, 2017] [Originally Added On: August 24th, 2017]
- Ayn Rand - Salon.com [Last Updated On: August 24th, 2017] [Originally Added On: August 24th, 2017]
- Anthem Essay Contest Ayn Rand Education [Last Updated On: August 24th, 2017] [Originally Added On: August 24th, 2017]
- What's Wrong With America? - Falls Church News Press [Last Updated On: August 25th, 2017] [Originally Added On: August 25th, 2017]
- Why Stephen K. Bannon was such a failure - The Washington Post - Washington Post [Last Updated On: August 25th, 2017] [Originally Added On: August 25th, 2017]
- Movie Review: In Pattinson, 'Twilight' sidles up to Ratso Rizzo - The Providence Journal [Last Updated On: August 25th, 2017] [Originally Added On: August 25th, 2017]
- Why Mark Cuban and Kevin O'Leary read Ayn Rand [Last Updated On: January 29th, 2018] [Originally Added On: January 29th, 2018]
- How Hillary Clinton Is Like Ayn Rand | The Weekly Standard [Last Updated On: March 16th, 2018] [Originally Added On: March 16th, 2018]
- Ayn Rand's Ideas - An Overview | AynRand.org [Last Updated On: June 23rd, 2018] [Originally Added On: June 23rd, 2018]
- The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand, Paperback | Barnes & Noble [Last Updated On: July 16th, 2018] [Originally Added On: July 16th, 2018]
- In Defense of Ayn Rand, Monster Under the Progressive Bed [Last Updated On: July 21st, 2018] [Originally Added On: July 21st, 2018]
- Ayn Rand Institute eStore [Last Updated On: September 6th, 2018] [Originally Added On: September 6th, 2018]
- Ayn Rand, Objectivism - The Atlas Society [Last Updated On: November 23rd, 2018] [Originally Added On: November 23rd, 2018]
- Here's how Ayn Rand helped turn the US into a selfish and ... [Last Updated On: November 27th, 2018] [Originally Added On: November 27th, 2018]
- Is There a Proof of Ayn Rand's Ethics? [Last Updated On: November 27th, 2018] [Originally Added On: November 27th, 2018]
- Ayn Rand raged against government benefits but grabbed ... [Last Updated On: November 29th, 2018] [Originally Added On: November 29th, 2018]
- President Obama Jabs At Ayn Rand, Knocks Himself Out [Last Updated On: December 9th, 2018] [Originally Added On: December 9th, 2018]
- Column: This is what happens when you take Ayn Rand seriously ... [Last Updated On: February 16th, 2019] [Originally Added On: February 16th, 2019]
- Ayn Rand - The New York Times [Last Updated On: March 25th, 2019] [Originally Added On: March 25th, 2019]
- Atlas Shrugged: (Centennial Edition) by Ayn Rand, Paperback ... [Last Updated On: March 25th, 2019] [Originally Added On: March 25th, 2019]
- Ayn Rand - Philosopher, Writer - Biography [Last Updated On: March 25th, 2019] [Originally Added On: March 25th, 2019]