Helen, Your Freedom and Ours, posted on the Bruges Group meeting, as did I, although she chose to highlight Peter Hitchen's call for a new Conservative Party to be formed. That this becomes self evident is a view that grows by the day as the 'message' being put out by the that party becomes more and more confusing. Let us leave to one side, for a moment, Cameron's 'repatriating powers' and 'renegotiating our terms of membership' policies, ones that we all know are not 'on the table' - and concentrate on statements/articles being placed in the media.
On Monday Lord Ashcroft had a piece in the Daily Telegraph in which he lamented the failure of his party to increase their standing in the opinion polls, in which he asks who the voters are blaming for their pain. Stating that part of their support is that voters do not believe Labour has a credable alternative, he omits the fact that, at present, neither do the electorate believe the Conservatives have either.
Just two days after a debate on whether a referendum should be granted, we have what may be termed a damage limitation exercise on Conservative Home, lo and behold, by the same author, in which he tackles the same subject although from a different angle by adding a different reason. Listing all the same reasons and citing that the question of our EU membership is a 'distraction', he completely ignores the fact that our membership of the EU and the constraints imposed by that membership are, in general, the reason for our difficulties in encouraging growth in the economy and in the creating of jobs. Arguing that immigration is not the big issue, but that what the public care about is the impact on jobs, housing, social services beggars belief when it is obvious that immigration is the cause of all those public worries.
It would appear that the Conservative Party under the leadership control of Cameron is about to commit self-burial, so big is the hole into which they are obviously digging themselves. On the Coffee House Spectator blog, Sam Gyimah, Conservative MP for East Surrey, posts an article repeating the Cameron line about the need for repatriation of powers and the need to renegotiate our membership. Accepting that this will never happen for reasons of 'acqui communitaire' anyway, it will never happen during the lifetime of this Parliament due to the publicly stated position of Nick Clegg, one which is covered in this report from the Daily Telegraph. In contrast, yesterday Politics Home (£) quotes David Lidington stating that work on the repatriation of powers has 'already started', which makes one wonder just what the hell is going on.
Actually we all do know what the hell is going on - the public is being 'softened up' through the process of mind control to accept the situation that the Conservatives have tried, but........... - and thereby will we be consigned to what the European Union has always stated is its aim, namely ever closer union. That the Conservative Party needs to change tack is illustrated by this article by Jeremy Warner in today's Daily Telegraph. If Cameron is intent on this 'renegotiation thingy' of his, if he is intent on safeguarding London's financial sector, if he is intent ensuring that Britain is not swamped by eurozone control, then he has only one course of action and that is to politely inform Brussels that we are off - byeee. Personally I am totally fed up with all this prevarication about the millions of jobs which are dependent on our membership of the EU, the false assertion that 50% of our trade is with the EU (especially when the reply to Lord Stoddart's question in the HoL showed that our export figures are flawed) - if those reasons are true then show us, give us the cost/benefit analysis for which I have been pleading. On that point, I have yet to see Gerard Batten's assertions, contained in his analysis, refuted by Cameron et all.
Peter Hitchen's call for a 'new' Conservative Party, whilst welcome, won't happen as there are too many career politicians present in the existing one. Some may say that the nearest thing we have to a Conservative Party is Ukip and, although a member of that party, I have to agree with Hitchen's opinion of them. How to break the dictatorial stranglehold that our politicians have on this country? The sooner the public can somehow be educated to a more participatory form of a political system, along the lines of that enjoyed by the Swiss, the better for this country and it's people.
11 comments:
The Conservative party is too infiltrated by Europhiles, too corrupt and too stupid. No good can come out of re-structuring it.
Why not UKIP? surely its very appeal is that it is not a finely honed PR machine. It is composed of genuine British patriots ( who once in a while make a mistake.
Yes it would be wonderful to have a poltical revolution. However UKIP is the only game in town at the moment!!
Can anybody see the bigger picture here?
ONS report says population to rise to 70million in 15 years ( mainly through immigration).
Millions of immigrants are going to need jobs and houses.
Government wants to scrap employment laws. particuarly those which relate to older workers ( who in the main are indigenous Britons)
Think Tank with very influential connections, calls for older people to be prised out of their houses to make way for younger people. ( older people tending to be British younger people tending to be foreigners)
Is it at all possible that we are going to see a concerted campaign of " Gentlemens ethnic cleansing" carried out in best Sergeant Wilson style ( WOULD YOU MIND AWFULLY JUST FUCKING OFF PLEASE!!)
We may not see Jackboots, and troops of Tory youth going around saying "Heil Dave" But I have the feeling that some really momentous nasty changes are afoot!!
Read the history of the late Roman/post Roman British nation and you find the same trend. The political leaders inviting more and more Angle and Saxon immigrants until, one day the Saxons began a campaign of genocide ...
The parallels with our own leadership and period are very, very scary.
The ideal fantasy outcome is clear to see. The out-of-the-EU people should resign from the present Conservative party and not join UKIP but merge into a new party under a suitable new name. They then have expertise and experience to fight the next election as a real pro-UK party.
That would leave Cameron and co as a minority party with no hope of winning the next election. But the Liberals are dead ducks, so unless labour ran home the likley outcome would be an equal coalition of Cameron's conservatives and the new anti EU party. That might just be pallatable.
One can dream anyhow.
oops, lost a few words. I meant merge with UKIP to form the new party.
Anon says "why not UKIP?" Because at the self-beknighted top of the commentariat of the "right" are people who have sour grapes about them, or who also think that politicians should not come from beyond the usual Oxbridge public school class, or who are assets from the other side involved in sabotage. This trickles down to become received thinking by camp followers.
It is a possible eventuality, Woodsy42, and would probably be the most successful way to actually get some anti-EU MPs elected. However, A has it right in that most of the conservative anti-EU elements are rigidly tribal and wouldn't go near UKIP any more than they would willingly join the LibDems.
Still, I have always said that UKIP will go nowhere unless it changes its name and sheds the one policy image, even if it is a misconception, and can get sufficient positive MSM exposure. And if it can bring itself to stop putting up spokesmen that would have difficulty discussing the weather with fellow passengers. I know incoherent mumbling bumblers make Farage look good but that shouldn't be the point of a political party.
That said, there is going to be a large handful of boundary change redundant MPs at the next election so maybe we will see something then. Of course, if they start something just before the election they won't have any time to organise.
a credable alternative,
Always favoured "credible" myself....anyway we don't want a "new" Conservative Party but a NEW Party to replace the Conservatives
This article did not really cover the predicted population figures but I can see they are on the minds of the readers. There is only one story this week that will come back to haunt us. This is the story that the population of England will increase by 20% in a generation. The consequences of such a change will be beyond the media's imaginings.
See ONS Predicted Population of Britain.
Excellent post David and one that has comes timely as other seemingly unrelated thoughts go through my head.
I recall reading Hitchens call for a rebellion against today's Conservatives before the election and wondered what the hell he was going on about. Retrospectively it all becomes too clear.
The current Conservatives are not what people expect them to be and I'd agree the time is right for some form of breakaway. However, given where we are with the state of Europe, it is time for other things as well such as those you pointed out in your constitution posts.
We need a whole new set of thoughts across the board, especially how we survive and thrive post any EU collapse. In or out of Europe, we need to change. Their uber leftist ideals are failing time and time again and we see those ideals failing here and making us ill equipped to have a nation which could thrive post EU. Currently, the British thinking around these problems is rusty and as The Slog points out some radical realism is called for.
Such a notion of British drive and excellence in which people stand on their own two feet with minimal inteference form the state should have been the rallying cry of conservatism and probably is in many aspects of small c conservatism, but what we have from these now is a marriage of flawed statism and corporate cronyism.
Any new conservative spin up should really comprise of new thinkers. Ones who can make simplify the message that your freedom lies not in more from the state but less. It should make sure that it tells the working class, that there so called benefactors on the left have done nothing but conned them.
Take for example, public sector pensions. The unions could have explained to their members the flaw in the model in that they were never sustainable and led them to take charge of their own retirement. But they didn't. They kept the myth alive because they know that if the working man and woman ever "gets" it, there's no need for the unions and the revenue stream dries up. You can see this across all manner of things.
The time for new thinking has come, from people who are willing to shoot a big hole in big state logic and well below its waterline.
Anon: First, to you and others who have made the point, when I said 'new' I in effect meant a new party that espoused policies and beliefs of the old Conservative Party.
Why not Ukip? As I have posted many times and as PC notes below - until Ukip changes it strategy, concentrates on national problems, get the electorate on its side for its policies, then and only then should they say: Ah but we can't give you any of those until we leave the EU, explaining why. Also until Ukip drastically upgrades its management, administration and website they will continue to struggle.
Anon(2): Point taken on board... Hope your wrong though.
TGM: From what knowledge I have of that period , you are correct.
W42: Possibly, but agree with PC would need a name change etc etc as I explained above.
A & C: Correct and agree with you both.
TT: Oops, apologies another typo on my part. You are right and I did mean to type ible.
J: Why should I mention population in this post........?
RB: Thank you and you are correct in your thinking.
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