Britain On Purpose
A better country won't happen by accident. We're not asking for your vote. We're asking for better government.
Our mission
To help build a better-functioning, fairer and more confident Britain through practical ideas, honest evidence and a renewed sense of shared responsibility.
Identify problems clearly.
Understand what the evidence tells us.
Develop practical solutions.
Measure whether they work.
And improve them when they do not.
Ten campaigns. One method.
Each campaign examines what the current government is doing and whether it is working, compares what other parties are proposing, and sets out what meaningful change would actually look like.
How each campaign works
One method. Ten campaigns.
Current state
What is the current government doing on this issue — and is it working? We examine the policy, the evidence and the progress against stated goals.
Comparing the alternatives
What are other parties proposing? We apply the same criteria to every published position — no special treatment, no tribal scoring.
Meaningful change
What would genuine improvement actually look like? We set out practical proposals and define how success would be measured.
Current Campaign
Show Us the Score
Major government commitments should come with a published baseline, measurable target and regular reporting of progress.
Government already has internal planning and performance systems. Britain on Purpose wants the most important outcomes presented to the public in one clear, consistent format.
This only works if people take part
Britain on Purpose is a citizens' advocacy group, not a political party. We develop practical, evidence-led campaigns and take them to government, Parliament and public institutions. But ideas only gain influence when people get behind them.
You can help by signing petitions, contacting your MP, sharing campaigns, contributing expertise, challenging our proposals and helping us improve them.
You do not need to agree with everything we say. You just need to believe that Britain can work better, and that citizens should have a hand in making that happen.
Don't just watch politics. Help improve it.
Why Britain on Purpose?
Problems should be confronted honestly, measured properly and fixed deliberately. That is what being on purpose means.
Politics often presents us with two versions of the country. One tells us everything is basically fine. The other tells us everything is broken. Neither is particularly useful.
Britain has real strengths. It also has systems that are underperforming, incentives that produce the wrong behaviour and problems that have been allowed to drift for too long.
Recognising those problems is not pessimism. Accepting them as inevitable is.
Britain on Purpose starts from a different position:
Our five principles
Everything Britain on Purpose does should be measured against five principles.
Competence
Announcements are not outcomes. Strategies are not outcomes. Task forces are not outcomes. Government should ultimately be judged by whether the problem actually improved.
Responsibility
Government, businesses and individuals should take responsibility for the consequences of their decisions. The greater the power, the greater the responsibility.
Fairness
Fairness does not necessarily mean giving everyone the same thing. It means creating a settlement that people can reasonably defend.
Contribution
Government has responsibilities to us. We also have responsibilities to one another.
Optimism
Optimism does not mean pretending everything is fine. It means believing that problems can be understood and improved. We call that evidence-based optimism.
Evidence before ideology
What evidence would change our mind?
Political debate rewards certainty. Reality rarely does. Britain on Purpose will try to operate differently.
Those things should not be confused with one another.
What exactly is the problem?
What does the evidence actually show?
What is already being done?
What has worked elsewhere?
What would our proposal cost?
What are the strongest arguments against it?
How would we measure success?
Country before party
Our ambition is not to become another political tribe. It is to make better ideas harder to ignore.
We will support worthwhile ideas regardless of who proposes them.
We will challenge poor ideas regardless of who proposes them.
If a government succeeds, we should be capable of saying so.
If it fails, we should be capable of saying that too.
Britain's future will happen either way.
Let's build a better one on purpose.
Get in Touch
Have thoughts on Britain's national purpose? We'd welcome your perspective.
Privacy: We will use the information you provide to respond to your message. See our Privacy Notice for details of how we use and retain personal information.
A new social contract
At the heart of Britain on Purpose is the belief that a successful country depends on a healthy relationship between three groups:
Government
Be competent. Be honest. Show us the results.
Business
Prosper, innovate and create wealth, but don't leave society with the bill.
All of Us
Citizenship should mean contribution as well as entitlement.
Government must work for citizens.
Business must succeed without exploiting society.
Citizens must contribute to the communities around them.