“I’m not that pessimistic now, because I wasn’t that optimistic before.”
These level-headed words are by far the wisest I’ve heard on the recent
ups and downs of the Conservative Party. They come from someone who
would describe himself as belonging to the Right of the Party, but who
is, in this context, atypical of his fellows, most of whom don’t know
whether to hang their heads in despair or dance a little jig.
Gloom, not glee, is the more appropriate response. The setbacks
suffered by Team Cameron have in no way advanced the standing of the
Right with the electorate. Instead, the centre of political gravity has
shifted to the Left, towards Gordon Brown. I hope that this is a
temporary phenomenon and that the unpopularity which attached to Tony
Blair will, like the fleas of dead dog, soon attach to his successor.
Of course, midway through a third term, Labour ought to be consistently
unpopular. But can this really be blamed on David Cameron? After all,
he has at least proven that a centrist Conservative Party is capable of
benefiting when Labour is unpopular – something the Right has not
managed in a generation. Before judging others, the Right – both within
and beyond the Conservative Party – must ask itself why, after ten
years of Labour Government, it remains on the margins of British
politics.
Prevailing cultural conditions are unfavourable, but is the Right
really so helpless to resist? Perhaps the root cause of its chronic
weakness is internal. In which case, it is time for the Right to face
up to a few home truths. Here are ten of them:
(1) Crippling self-indulgence. Politics is a hard slog. Territory has to be fought for inch by inch.
You rarely achieve your objectives overnight. That is something the
Conservative Party’s free marketers understood even in the statist
depths of the post-war period. Through patience and discipline they
built up the powerful position from which Margaret Thatcher was to
eventually win the war against socialism. What the Tory rightwingers
did not do was depart to found their own political party. What a
contrast to so many of today’s rightwingers who have dribbled off to
UKIP, Veritas and various other groupuscules. Other than getting a
clutch of deeply unimpressive MEPs elected (thanks to the EU-imposed
electoral system), the only impression these splinters have made is to
ensure the survival of federalist Lib-Lab MPs in a number of marginal
Westminster constituencies. Thanks a bunch.
(2) A limitless supply of useful idiots. Still, better an honest ’kipper than the sort of Tory who spills his
guts to the media. Clearly, this isn’t just a rightwing problem.
Indeed, the worst offenders have tended to be on the Left of the Party.
Nonetheless there’s something particularly idiotic about the rightist
variety. At least when the former feed the mainstream media’s appetite
for anti-Conservative stories, they demonstrate a degree of ideological
consistency. The latter, however, should not mistake the media’s
flattery and attention with any kind of sympathy for the rightwing
cause. The agenda is pure and simple: to do as much damage to the
Conservative Party as possible. That is why useful idiots – right, left
and centre – are always welcome at the BBC.
Recent Comments