More from Liam Fox

Liam Fox's call for a reconsideration of single-sex schools got a lot of media attention over the weekend - and has caused some debate in the comments on this blog.

However, his article in the Observer on Sunday was more interesting. In particular, this quotation:

The 1980s forces which generated economic revival also significantly increased social and geographical mobility. This markedly reduced the role of the extended family and the security it represented.

Britain has lost some of the building blocks of a strong and stable society. The decline in secure family life, of good order in our schools and of good behaviour on our streets is creating an environment in which many people live in a state of anxiety and too many young people are excluded from normal life.

Here, at last, is a leading Conservative showing some sign of realising that there is a contradiction inherent in his party's philosophy. Modern Tories support the free market, yet that market tends to subvert the traditional values they cherish.

I feel another outing for one of my favourite quotations coming on. As John Gray has written:

The self-destruction of British conservatism by New Right ideology and policies is best interpreted as an exemplification of a central neo-liberal theme - the importance of unintended consequences in social, economic and political life.

Now read on.