David Levy – Changing Focus – Jan 2026

Another Budget has come and gone to the rally cry of “More Growth”, but without a thought as to what growth means to the Nation.

I know what it means to me, and it is unsustainable.

Mankind needs to build growth from reuse of those things we discard, and gain value from what we waste, rather than using up virgin resources that produce virgin products that are too easily landfilled or incinerated. Growth of this kind is a blueprint for the future, whilst what we have currently is a plan for disaster.

We need to understand that mankind has to live with the environment, rather than producing by-products that destroy it. Therefore, at the planning stage /conceptual stage of building anything, we should only proceed if there is a clearly understood end-of- life plan for what is being made. Indeed, in many cases, no waste at all should be produced. Zero waste is a concept we should and can achieve.

The commentary on the last Budget has been very parochial in terms of political belief.

It has failed to engage with the public who know that priorities need to be discussed, and here I am with them. It should start with what rights we have as people. I am proud of the work Marinet has done because we have engaged with the major rights we have as humans.

1. The Right to Clean Water

2. The Right to Clean Breathable Air

3. The Right to Affordable Food that is Healthy for You.

4. The Right to Self-Defence

I am not sure we have the right to anything else, but if we get these four rights established then we can engage with the conversation about what else we can deliver to our population.

The current political discussion is all about managing expectations, without ever once having had the discussion about our rights. Political discussion at present is ludicrous, as well as being utterly impossible to deliver. It is most patronising, and also gives the anti-establishment figures the club to bludgeon you with.

The truly sad and demoralising factor is that the horizon holds out little hope for change, and doesn’t reveal where change is going to come from.

The failure to trust your people is what is behind the extreme politics we are currently being exposed to. Brexit resulted, at the time of the vote, from a poor engagement with the issues and the outcomes. Pendulum voting comes from dissatisfaction, and not from inspiration.

Until leaders start to dismantle the control that “growth politics” has on our future, the quicker we will descend into an abyss from which we will have great difficulty in escaping.