The state we are in is a fiefdom of robber barons

Raw sewage in rivers and absurd energy prices are two signs of misrule. They reflect the incapacity or ­unwillingness of the state to perform its core function as the faithful steward of the ­common good. The state has a fiduciary obligation to ­society, to act as a trustee on behalf of the ­citizens, exercising prudent care over the things which are of concern to each and all.

If it ­cannot control its own infrastructure, if it will not regulate utility companies in the ­public interest, if it will not protect the poor from ­hardship, if it is unable to check the ­pursuit of private profit from smearing the rivers in ­excrement, it has failed in its duties.

There are many other examples of the ­chronic under-performance of the state. ­Barristers are on strike and the legal ­system creaking. ­Billions have been wasted on ­corruption and ­incompetence.

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Working and middle class people have been subject to more than a decade of stagnant ­wages. The only growth industry is the ­proliferation of foodbanks, but even many of those are now at breaking point, unable to keep pace with ­demand. A self-imposed blockade of European trade means not only higher consumer prices and additional costs for struggling businesses, but also a host of disasters, great and small, ­foreseen and unforeseen, from crops rotting in the fields to shortages of spare car parts and cuts to research funding.

For the better part of a decade, Brexit – and the resulting economic, social and institutional fall-out – has swallowed up all the policy space. All the deep, persistent structural problems which induced people to fall for Brexit in the first place – broken public services, dead towns, deteriorating living standards, lack of industrial and infrastructural development – have been ignored.

Far from “taking back control”, we have seen democratic power dissipate. The ­institutions through which that power should flow – ­Parliament, political parties, the Cabinet, the civil service – have fallen into disarray and ­decay. No one has a grip on anything. Like the rate of inflation, it is all spiralling out of ­control. In the midst of it all sits a lame-duck Prime ­Minister, absent without leave, and likely to be replaced by someone even less qualified.

Meanwhile, attacks are launched against the very foundations of a free society – the rule of law, the independence of the judiciary – so that the government can get away with policies, like deportations to Rwanda, designed only to stoke hatred.

In a well-functioning developed democracy, the state is strong but non-oppressive. It is able to provide public services and maintain ­public utilities and infrastructure, and to regulate commerce in ways that protect workers, the ­environment and consumers. It is inclusive in its decision-making and responsible to the ­public through legal and political mechanisms.

In poorly functioning states, by contrast, the state is weak but oppressive. It is unable or ­unwilling to perform those functions. Public functions are hived off to private companies, with the charitable sector desperately trying to plug the gaps that profit cannot reach. The unjust state is exclusive in its decision-making – ignoring public interests and acting only in the private interests of the rich and well-connected – and shields itself from responsibility.

That is where we are at. The long legacy of the experiment in out-sourcing and privatisation since the 1980s is the fiefdom-state; a state in which the private interests of the few dominate, and where robber-barons greedily devour the public realm.

This is what makes the plan for Charter ­Cities – which some with close ties to the Tory Government see as the ultimate end of the free ports policy – so nefarious. Charter Cities are the epitome of “private government”, as opposed to public government.

The privatisation of the Royal Mail, even the National Grid, means the robber barons are left with very slim pickings. So, not content with ­privatising services, Charter Cities would ­privatise government itself. They would sell the right to rule to private companies.

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The problem is largely constitutional. ­Modern democratic constitutions not only protect ­private rights against abuses of public power; they also protect public rights against abuses of private power. If we had a decent constitution, Charter Cities would be unconstitutional.

A good constitution enables the state to ­actively promote the common good and to ­defend citizens against the domination of rich and powerful private interests, while regulating the imperium of the state so that the state itself does not become a source of oppression. The state can do the stuff, but it can do it only in ways that are accountable, contestable, and publicly justifiable.

The problem is also ideological. Corporate feudalism was always the natural end-state of the libertarianism that has infected the ­Conservative Party. It promises freedom but, for all but a very rich few, delivers only slavery.