Anti-business anger is threat to UK prosperity A central reason for this ideological shift is the absence of credible counter-voices explaining that law-breaking and manipulation is not the norm in business, and that the causes of the recession were complex and varied. The Coalition has so far been unable to mount a credible defence of free enterprise, partly because too many ministers don't believe in anything other than staying in power. Britain is thus becoming ever more like France: anti-achievement, anti-wealth and anti-hard work. It is a cultural catastrophe. A recent Ipos Mori poll found that, while there are many things that make us proud of being British - our history (cited by 45pc), the NHS (37pc), the Army (36pc) - just 4pc cited British business. Yet our history is as much one of commercial success as it is of military glory - and who does the public think pays for the NHS and the Army? Without private firms, there would be no economy and no resources to spend on anything. As our bloated state downsizes, growth and jobs will only come from the private sector. We need more corporate success, not less; we need more of our citizens to become rich through building businesses, not fewer - and for that we need a culture and tax system that rewards wealth creation. No country has ever created opportunities for the many by taxing high achievers into oblivion. This anti-capitalist mood is a disaster for the Tory party: it will never win another election again if most people continue to hate private enterprise. Forget about Clause 4 moments, that old Cameron fantasy: the Tories will always be seen as the party of capitalism. The Government urgently needs to come up with a strategy to resell the market economy to voters. This is a new culture war and it needs to be waged passionately. There should be three planks to the fight-back. The Government needs to make it clearer that honest corporate success, even in banking, is beneficial to society. It should find a sensible way of distributing the state's shares in RBS and Lloyds to the public, free of charge; taxpayers have, after all, already paid for them. Other assets could be privatised in this way, giving everyone a stake in UK Plc. We also need a public-spirited entrepreneur to set up a campaign for popular capitalism: a pressure group, independent of political parties, to explain why free enterprise is good for jobs, an engine of aspiration and the only way to get out of recession. Similar organisations, such as Aims of Industry, did wonders in the 1970s. It is time to wage the battle of ideas once more. Finally, the Government should abolish hand-outs to business and crack down on corporate crime. Britain is stuck in a paradox: we need a free market revolution to kick-start growth, and yet the public says it will only countenance reform once the good times have returned. That is why, for once, George Osborne needs to mould, rather than follow, public opinion. Britain desperately needs leadership, a quality seen all too infrequently at the Treasury these days, or else another debilitating era of relative decline beckons.