Sir, Mr John Jackson (letter, August 1) refers to “the fundamentally contradictory position of those who espouse liberalism of the economic kind, yet crusade against any forms of liberalism in the law and social policy”.

Far from being contradictory, support for traditional social structures is the only way of preventing the State from moving into the vacuum which social libertarianism creates.

Fifty-six per cent of single-parent families in this country depend wholly or mainly on the State for their income. This remains one of the fastest-growing elements in the social security budget, which now accounts for one third of all public expenditure. Furthermore, evidence both here and abroad shows that children born and reared by married two-parent families, even from low-income groups, are far less likely to drop out of school, get into trouble with the law and, in extremis, fall into the state-funded care system.

Even if the social misery associated with the collapse of the traditional family in so much of Britain — drug addiction, drunkenness, child prostitution and suicide — is disregarded, nobody who has seriously examined the studies can deny the consequences for public spending. This reflects a burgeoning intervention of the State both directly through the benefits system, with its culture of dependency, and through growing numbers of social workers, probation officers, etc.

It is no accident that Adam Smith, the spiritual father of capitalism, was a moral philosopher.

JULIAN BRAZIER
Canterbury, Kent

From Mr Rodney E. B. Atkinson

Sir, There is no contradiction for true Conservatives in espousing economic but not social liberalism. The individual freedoms to invest, make profits, trade freely and acquire personal capital (constrained by competition) on the one hand require, on the other, the security of moral standards and social structures to allow them to work in the interests of all.

As the developing world daily demonstrates, investment is impossible without strict laws on property rights. Ultimately the Conservative social morality of “my word is my bond” is more valuable than a law laid down by the State.

Conservative virtues of a stable family and Christian values are better guarantees of financial rectitude and economic morality than the all- powerful State. Conservative notions of the nation state are a better guarantor of free trade than supranational powers controlling everything, as the high unemployment in the eurozone indicates. A laissez-faire attitude to personal morality, abortion and divorce makes wealth creation in the long run impossible, and leads to the break-up of organic communities and to social alienation and poverty.

RODNEY E. B. ATKINSON
Stocksfield, Northumberland

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