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The underbelly of "progressive conservatism"
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by The_Cynic | September 23, 2009 at 07:10 pm
108 views | 36 Recommendations | 5 comments
There is a backlash in the UK - and though many on the right are descending into raptures of glee because there will be a Tory government after the next election they forget - as usual, that New Labour are as far from a left-wing party as they are, maybe even a little more to the right.
Cameron has rushed to distance himself from the growing perception that he would oversee a "1980s-style", Thatcherite cuts programme. But taken together with Tory plans for a sweeping extension of New Labour privatisation and the wholesale slash-and-burn outsourcing from flagship Conservative councils such as Barnet, and Hammersmith, and Fulham, the cut-price contours of a Cameron government are becoming ever clearer.
Add to that the shocking sound of the soft-spoken Conservative chairman, Eric Pickles, this week defending the celebration of Waffen SS veterans who fought with the Nazis in the second world war – because they are supported by one of the Tories' new rightwing European allies, the Latvian Fatherland and Freedom party – and the ugly underside of "progressive Conservatism" is difficult to miss.
But if we have to look toward a Tory government in the UK, for at least five years, then there isn't much to scrutinise - at all.
They are keeping a lot of their cards to their chest - just in case. But one thing that is becoming obvious is that they will take strides rightward as soon as they can.
How can a British political party support - or even defend the Waffen SS - is this what "progressive Conservatism" will look like?
This is, of course all about the last 30 years of Thatcherite policy - even if Blair said that they were a New Labour party and had a third way for the economy - it turned out that it was just more of the same.
as many voters believe Labour stands for the rich as for the poor (about a fifth in each case), and fewer people think Labour, rather than the Tories, represents "ordinary working people" – though the Conservatives were seen by about 50% to favour the rich.
It has been common knowledge that the Tory support business - they always have and always will. They have always fought for the rich - selling the countries silver to provide tax cuts for those rich knowing that some of that money would make its way back into the Tory election coffers.
That changed in 1997 because people wanted change and Blair said he would give it - and people believed him. Yet with the majority he had he didn't move in the leftward track that people wanted - he moved right.
Cameron is staring on the right and will, as we see, do almost anything To gain power in both the EU and the UK. But that is "New" Labour's fault - they have, with neo-liberal policies alienated their very supporters - so where do they go and whom do they vote for?
Personally I want them to go for the LibDems - we will have to see about that one though. Even as the third party they are not making the polling gains they need to make.
The flight from Labour, which lost 4m votes between 1997 and 2005, was already far advanced when Tony Blair held sway. Part of that was due to Iraq. But getting on for 3m votes melted away at the 2001 election, when Blair began his crusade to privatise public services. The largest group were working-class voters losing out to the corporate-tailored, cheap-labour policies that became New Labour's hallmark.
The UK is heading into a general election with a perfect storm arising.
The core left vote has no one to vote for, so they will not vote in their millions. The centre-right vote is their for the taking by the Tories but with the backlash that will happen with the cuts in public services won't effect them until after the election - and then there is the core right-wing vote that will vote Tory no matter what.
What is coming is a storm far worse than when Thatcher was in power - how the population reacts to that in something I really don't want to think about - for now.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (5)
at 19:40 on September 23rd, 2009
Ah, how we all forget so easily... :)
at 22:11 on September 23rd, 2009
As a very experience guy that has followed UK politics for 4 decades the answer at the next election whom people will vote for will be for a fresh broom and not about politics and what the politician stand for.
New Labour been in the seat for too long UK citizens just want a change and of course know its going to be not a big change.
at 22:30 on September 23rd, 2009
... and the 18 years before that was all Tory, Babel.
If a new broom sweeps clean then it is about time people voted LibDem.
at 02:03 on September 24th, 2009
Interesting article that describes the clash of two philosophies well. I suspect, as in Canada, if the Tories are elected they will govern from the centre, which is exactly what Tony Blair did.
at 03:28 on September 24th, 2009
I don't think it's even clear what we mean by "left" and "right" any more. For example, the words "BNP" and "far right" are never far apart, and yet their manifestos are full of anti-globalisation rhetoric, increases in state support for pensioners, nationalisation of key areas of industry etc etc - all of which are totems of the left.
The dividing line is now between those who see the state as the answer to our problems, and those who think that the state is a contributor to those problems. Cameron clearly pitches himself in the latter camp.
Is that a wise move? Well however much play is made of Thatcher's policies, we've been suckling on the state teat for so long that it seems that every problem we face in life is accompanied seconds later by a "they should do something". The net result has been governments of every stripe ramping up huge volumes of legislation to curry favour with voters.
We seem to have reached a tipping point where the result is a state that is unable to fund itself and so awash with legislation that even the highest law lord in the land finds herself unable to follow employment laws. In short - a mess.
All this rambling leads me to my point: Cameron is no saviour, but I think there is a coherence in his thinking that the Lib Dems lack. It might just be a party discipline thing but that's my impression. The signature Lib Dem plan that's come out of the last week is the so-called "Mansion Tax." Sorry, but that's not a serious way to tackle the nation's troubles.