More Human by Steve Hilton review – blue-sky writing

Cameron’s former adviser has produced a book easy to mock for its wide-eyed ideas, but harder to dismiss

It is impossible for anyone involved in politics to write without lying. The act of joining a party and committing to collective discipline compels loyalists to “take one for the team” when required. They do not want to give aid to their enemies or cause distress to their friends, so they avoid the questions that anyone else would ask automatically.

The omissions of Steve Hilton, a former adviser to David Cameron, are so easy to attack that the chance to take apart his More Human feels like an invitation to commit a crime against humanity. Hilton bubbles with wide-eyed, gee-whizz infatuations. He bounces round the world burbling out his enthusiasm for this startup in London that may one day transform healthcare or that researcher in Chicago who found the best way to persuade teachers to raise pupils’ standards. He has no great theory to interest political philosophers. If you boil down his arguments, you find platitudes so folksy and banal a Girl Guide leader could repeat them.

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