Still think Johnson cares about liberty? I have a bridge to sell you
The Conservative Party’s rhetoric – aimed at quelling increasing lockdown scepticism – is far removed from its action.
Adding insult to recent lockdown-related injury, the Prime Minister said earlier this week that he is a ‘freedom lovin’ Tory’. The same Prime Minister is giving councils £30million to recruit, train and equip ‘Covid Marshals’, who are being ‘ordered to target weddings, parties, pubs, and restaurants, wearing body-mounted cameras to take evidence of [lockdown] breaches’ (my emphasis), as reported today.
The Conservative Party’s rhetoric – aimed at quelling increasing lockdown scepticism – is far removed from its action.
Last week, Luke Doherty commented on Lawrence Fox’s new ‘Reclaim’ party: ‘[Mr. Fox] is misguided in separating himself from existing political structures and going lone-wolf. In jumping ship from natural support of the Conservative Party, Fox is allowing the dominant liberal faction to continue to have the whip hand. What he should be doing instead is focusing his energies on the current state of the party, and mobilizing social and cultural conservatives to direct and influence policy.’
Luke is right that, given the current political backdrop, Reclaim will fail. But he is wrong to believe there is any hope in actually changing the actions undertaken by the Conservative Party. Reclaim, by shifting attention towards the culture war (in the same way Nigel Farage shifted attention towards immigration and the EU), may well force a lot of tough talk out of the Tories. But after the next election, should Johnson, or his Tory replacement, remain in Number Ten, nothing will change with regards to policy.
Since the public’s most recent swallowing of some guff on ‘getting Brexit done’ and ‘taking back control of our borders’, the Tories have introduced a more global immigration system, have done next-to nothing about illegal Channel crossings, handed the production of a national icon (the blue British passport, said to be a sign of our reclaimed sovereignty) to a company overseas, and have taken control away from our Parliament regarding the imposition of lockdowns.
It is currently asking neighbours to spy on their neighbours; to break-up marriage ceremonies, and to report against families and friends gathering in pubs.
You would be wasting your time if you chose to focus your energies on attempting to influence the cultural policies of this party. Whilst you will be successful in persuading it to offer some sop on the family unit, on the innocence of childhood, the importance of ‘Buying British’, and the need for tough law and order, after the next election your efforts will have boiled down to a ongoing attack – by the ‘Conservative’ Party – on the institution of marriage, the further rollout of sex education in schools (whilst education generally is trashed), the selling off of important production contracts to foreign companies, and to the continued creep-forward of the legalisation of cannabis. This is a liberal party. If you are a conservative, leave.
Conservatives make it worse for themselves when they force traditionalist rhetoric. This talk is dutifully accepted by Party loyalists, who are then harder to shake when shown the latest Tory failure.
Continuing tribal attachments to this force is all that allows its liberal faction (by far its biggest faction, in Parliament, at least) to continue to hold the whip hand. The conservatives most important duty at the next election is to not vote Tory.
