Andrew Neil blames a “national scandal” of local government failure and incompetence, others argue the rot goes much deeper.
Andrew Neil urged those holding the “radical Tory position” to accept the emergence of a more “varied society,” one in which cultural and social norms would no longer be set from the centre. The real challenge for conservatives, he argued, would be whether their commitment to “freedom and individual enterprise” could withstand “the freedom to do what Tories do not like.”
Decades later, the urban decline of places like Sauchiehall Street arguably represents the ultimate test of this “radical” position. If the market chooses the convenience of the digital algorithm or the suburban retail park over the historic city centre, the resulting dereliction is simply the price of that same individual enterprise Neil once championed.