Britain once ruled an empire where the sun never set, yet its lingering self-image as a leader rather than a learner has left it blind to the successes of nations it once governed or protected. According to the IMF’s 2024 World Economic Outlook, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates now surpass the UK in GDP per capita (adjusted for purchasing power) – a stark reversal of fortunes. These countries didn’t just inherit Britain’s best traits – common law, property rights, contract enforcement, and the English language – they built on them. Meanwhile, the UK stagnated, shackled by inertia and pride.
Emulation and imitation are fundamental pillars of human learning, driving our social evolution and cultural advancement. History shows that imitation drives progress. Britain itself was forged by borrowing – from Roman roads to Norman laws – yet today it recoils at learning from its former colonies and protectorates. As Britain grapples with persistent economic stagnation, it’s time to swallow that pride and embrace the free-market lessons these nations offer. Their triumphs aren’t just economic – they’re a blueprint for national renewal.
Energy: efficiency over extravagance
The UAE’s Barakah nuclear plant shames Britain’s Hinkley Point C. Four South Korean APR-1400 reactors were built for less than half Hinkley’s per-kilowatt cost, using a proven design with existing certifications. Hinkley, by contrast, opted for a bespoke EPR reactor, ballooning costs with 7,000 regulatory tweaks, delays, and private-sector dithering. The UAE’s pragmatic approach – phased construction, sovereign financing – delivers clean energy without the farce. Britain must ditch its obsession with reinventing the wheel, and simultaneously, its blind faith in intermittent solar and wind.
Immigration: pragmatism, not sentiment
The UAE’s immigration system is ruthlessly practical: migrant workers fuel the economy but lack long term rights to welfare or state funded healthcare, and citizenship is a rare prize for the exceptional. In Britain, Indefinite Leave to Remain is far easier to secure, with the Centre for Policy Studies estimating a £234 billion fiscal cost from migrants arriving between 2021 and 2024 alone. Australia’s zero-tolerance stance on illegal immigration offers another lesson – a stark contrast to the UK, where illegal entrants often fare better than citizens. Immigration must serve the nation, not sap it.
Economic Freedom: unleashing prosperity
Hong Kong and Singapore prove the power of low taxes and light-touch governance. In the 1960s, Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary Sir John Cowperthwaite, championed ‘positive non-interventionism’, lifting real wages by 50% and slashing acute poverty from 50% to 15%. Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew – who was admired by Tony Blair – favoured individual responsibility and a targeted safety net, telling Margaret Thatcher in 1985: ‘We have studiously avoided the practices of the welfare state. We saw how great people reduced themselves to mediocrity by levelling down.’ Perhaps equally as relevant today, he also said: ‘…it requires a prime minister with very strong nerves to tell the voters the truth, that creators of wealth are precious members of society who deserve honour plus the right to keep a better part of their rewards…’ Britain, meanwhile, punishes success with taxes and red tape. It has forgotten what made it great.
Savings: securing the future
Singapore’s Central Provident Fund (CPF) mocks Britain’s pension mess. Unlike Britain’s tax-dependent system, CPF is an easy to understand joint employer-employee mandatory savings scheme. It builds personal wealth across three ringfenced accounts: retirement, housing, and healthcare—easing the state’s burden. Britain taxes workers to prop up retirees; Singapore empowers citizens to stand tall. It’s a reform worth stealing.
Skills: training that works
Australia’s vocational education and training system outclasses Britain’s by weaving practical training into secondary schooling. Vocational achievements are celebrated, not sidelined, narrowing the gap between classroom and career. As AI threatens desk jobs, skilled trades will endure—yet the UK’s skills shortage festers. It’s time to ditch the degree fetish and invest in real training and create a blue-collar job boom.
The politicians we deserve
Lee Kuan Yew built Singapore’s success by hiring the nation’s sharpest minds into government, paying them handsomely to deter corruption, and enforcing a zero-tolerance regime against graft. A significant portion of ministerial compensation is tied to measurable outcomes, such as GDP growth, directly incentivising national success. Ministers were judged by their ability to deliver, not their TV charisma. In the UK, by contrast, ministerial promotions often feel like rewards for media flair or public grandstanding, while talent stays in or flees to the private sector. The lesson is clear: value competence, pay for it, and demand performance. If Britain wants a government that works, it should ditch the spotlight-chasers and back politicians who prove their worth. We get the politicians we deserve – so why not demand better?
The will to win
Steve Jobs nailed it: ‘We have always been shameless about stealing great ideas.’ Britain must do the same. These former colonies didn’t fluke their way to success – they embraced bold, market-driven policies. Context differs, but the UK can adapt their best ideas – economic freedom, energy abundance, controlled borders, practical skills and properly incentivised politicians.
Ideas alone won’t suffice. Rigorous error correction is equally crucial. The centre-right, especially the Conservative Party, must break from the post-war social contract’s failures – not tweak it – and ditch the ‘uniparty’ consensus that smothers change. Only then can Britain harness capitalism and technology to reclaim its edge, not through nostalgia, but through humility and grit.
Click here to subscribe to our daily briefing – the best pieces from CapX and across the web.
CapX depends on the generosity of its readers. If you value what we do, please consider making a donation.
