Bed time, Tories?

CONTRARY to received wisdom, Britain is a country in which revolutions are a continuous reality. Their powers and range lie largely concealed beneath a carapace of precedence, tradition and ceremony.

This envelope of stability has allowed events as seismic as the Glorious Revolution, the Reform Act and Thatcher’s economic policy to reconfigure the nation without imperilling the state.

‘Brexit’ is the most recent revolt and, strangely, perhaps the most disruptive for the establishment.

The programme superficially unleashed by the referendum – local democracy, popular reform and immigration restriction – should have bolstered the position of a properly conservative government and assured electoral success. Instead, a demoralised party of warring factions is limping to defeat.

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The full article features in our 46th print issue, available for solo-purchase here for those who subscribe to the magazine for as little as £2 a month here.