Hayes in the House, a weekly column by South Holland and the Deepings MP, Sir John Hayes

Last week, during a chance meeting in the café of the splendid bookshop, Bookmark Spalding, a constituent recounted his early years when (an age ago) his uncle had poached, not out of devilment, but from desperation.

It was the only way to feed his family and so as we compared notes on pre-Second World War poverty, I recalled my own father's families’ amazement that anyone might be wealthy enough to afford a bicycle.

Thankfully, much has changed since then with the standard of living enjoyed by most Britons now far beyond the dreams of my working class ancestors.

Yet the lazy assumption that this just and happy escape from poverty would mean, of itself, unbridled satisfaction and wholesale delight for all has proved misguided.

Certainly, that most people are materially better off than many thought possible is welcome.

But does this progress alone guarantee true fulfilment?

After all, capitalist economists have always acknowledged that markets can only be sustained for as long as societies are governed by bonds of trust that allow for mutual dealings in good faith.

Yet for decades, the obsessive fixation of those in power with material output has distorted their view of what makes people happy, thus relegating the

drama, beauty and joy of life,while reducing humans to little more than economic units.

Sensing that men and women need more than goods alone, our search for meaning is more anxious and frantic than ever, as directionless drift leads to inevitable despair.

Feckless, fruitless indulgence pursued by those who long for liberation from mediocrity, serves only to enslave and degrade.

The vote to leave the EU was about more than a rejection of distant supranational governance, it was a cry for renewal and restoration.

In the great battle of our political age, the people determined that a rooted sense of place must triumph over desolate, atomised individualism or vapid

internationalism.

As the great philosopher Edmund Burke made clear, only through the "little platoons" which foster relational service can belonging and purpose enrich each of our lives.

Recently, chairing the Centre for Social Justice’s Working Group on Community Capital, I was struck by how important it is to change national priorities. As we surveyed decent people in towns and villages now often described as being "left behind", it became strikingly clear than whilst statistical

measurements of GDP are important, the wellbeing of our people is far more so.

During the six-week study in Birkenhead, Clacton and the Rhondda Valley, individuals with different experiences and diverse backgrounds re-iterated a common desire for meaningful relationships in communities of which they could feel proud.

Central government must empower local authorities to measure community engagement and use the data to assess its own commitment to the improvement of social infrastructure, ensuring societal health by cultivating responsibility for communities.

Reinforcing such local communities will, in turn, strengthen the economy and provide the firm foundations of personal responsibility and financial prudence which will counter the habit of rash borrowing to spend that so often results in downturn and crash.

When people devote their talents and passions to the betterment of those around them, they benefit as much as those they choose to help.

The Centre for Social Justice report seeks to refocus sights on the human assets we all have, the social contribution we all make and the resulting

wellbeing we all feel.

Togetherness and solidarity are of infinite value, but they will only be achieved as part of a greater national commitment to rooted communities.

A sense of place which, by binding us to the people we live amongst, mitigates inequalities through what is shared can be the cornerstone of a social renaissance.

In this way, each of us will grow as we stand tall together.