Has There Ever Been A Worse UK Government Than This?
I am a member of the Conservative Party – just. My annual subscription is due and I feel physically sick at the prospect of doing anything that is supportive of the appalling collection of third and fourth rates that presently sit round the cabinet table.
The Conservative Party has Lost Its Way. We Need To Get Back To Being Tories.
We need to re-focus on our fundamental principles: individual liberty, individual responsibility, small government, free markets, evidence-based policy and a benevolent, responsible, one-nation approach.
Let’s face it, we’ve had a privileged toff, little more than a ponce on the nation, who from his position of wealth found it very easy to impose austerity on people with whom he was totally out-of-touch. Throughout his political career he vacillated and dithered on policy because he has no principles except self-advancement. Now we have some fake Tory, an authoritarian bureaucrat with big government, nanny state instincts, daughter of a high Anglican priest stuck in some 195os delusion of what Britain is today.
Meanwhile, a socialist activist but a man with integrity, courage and vision has stolen our place. Jeremy Corbyn provides more leadership in the UK than the entire Conservative cabinet put together. He was magnificent at Glastonbury, seizing the hearts and minds of not just the young but the young at heart – seizing the future! Where is the Tory alternative? There is great excitement, belief and enthusiasm for Brexit, 17.4 million people voted for it! Where is the Conservative spokesperson passionately declaiming this? The party has been hijacked by Remainers, determined to undermine the referendum result, interested only in the ambitions and concerns of the Westminster Elite.
When I try to talk to my MP, Sir Oliver Letwin, formerly number three in Cameron’s cabinet, although I am talking to someone a few months younger than me, I feel I am talking to my father’s generation – and to someone particularly old-fashioned and out-of-touch. My local Conservative Party branch, charming though many of the members are, is like an episode of Last of the Summer Wine, as disconnected from the rest of the UK as Cameron is from anyone on less than £250k per annum. At 59, I’m a youngster.
It’s outrageous really that my party has got itself into such a state with years of weak opposition, popular support for non-socialist policies and, until Corbyn, an absence of effective alternative leadership. It’s nothing less than disastrous and unless we change now we are doomed. The membership is old and dying. If we don’t get a grip within five years we will be gone forever.
A Perfect Storm Of Failure, Corruption And Arrogance.
I’ve been fascinated by and active in politics since the late 1970s. Never in my lifetime have I seen such a combination of mistakes and scandalous cock-ups. Brexit has been sabotaged by dithering and delay – and I’m quite ready to believe this is a calculated deceit. With the BBC, the bankers and the Twitterati renewing Project Fear on a daily basis, is it any wonder that the going is tough? Cameron resigned because he said we needed a Leave supporter to take charge but instead we have a Remainer, one of the worst performing government ministers ever. How, after six years of persistent failure at the Home Office, she became PM is beyond belief but even more incredible is that after her terrible election performance she is still in No. 10. It is ridiculous!
The failures are all too easy to see but let’s list them to be certain that the huge scale of this crisis is understood.
Brexit – Total failure to plan, perhaps deliberately, best illustrated by the absurd spectacle, just last month, of the Home Office commissioning analysis of the economic and social contributions and costs of EU citizens in Britain. Surely something that should have been done years ago? Boris Johnson and Michael Gove have both proved themselves to be lacking in courage and leadership skills. The bumptious fool Dr Liam Fox, who does seem to stick to his principles on Brexit, shames us by his foreign adventures, recently praising the murdering thug President Duterte of the Philippines as having ‘shared values’ with Britain.
NHS – Persistent deceit from ministers, including the utterly in-credible Jeremy Hunt, about how much money in real terms the health service is receiving. Scandalous failure to keep multiple promises about mental health having parity with physical health.
Democracy – The UK’s system of government is now a joke compared to other modern democracies. Our electoral system is primitive. Conservative and Labour parties conspire to keep the system as it is because it keeps them both in power. It is obvious that we should be moving towards some form of proportional representation, online voting and a radical shake-up of the House of Lords. MPs also need to be much more accountable. The terrible murder of Jo Cox has let too many of them off the hook that the expenses scandal put them on. Recently they have been whining about the abuse they get online. In general they deserve it for the terrible job they are doing. Also, they get protection from the police for such abuse. The police are useless when it’s a member of the public under attack. We need a job description for MPs, rights for constituents and a complaints procedure with teeth.
Social policy – I am ashamed at how Conservative ministers in reality are indistinguishable from the populist caricature of the ‘arrogant, uncaring, effing Tories’. The Grenfell Tower tragedy encapsulates everything that is wrong with the high-handed view that they take of the people who pay their wages.
Justice – After food, shelter and health what is more important than justice? The destruction of legal aid is one of the most dreadful developments in my lifetime. All governments delight in making more and more law but what use is it if it cannot be enforced? There is no justice if it is not available to everyone. I am delighted at the Supreme Court’s ruling that makes legal aid available once again for employment tribunals Without it employment law was literally useless and thousands have been deprived of their rights. And for his disastrous, destructive, incompetent and thoroughly nasty attitude the man who defines injustice in modern Britain is Chris Grayling. No other minster has more disgraced our party. He is unfit to be in government and why he remains anywhere near ministerial office is unbelievable. No one individual better epitomises the nasty, arrogant, incompetent Tory.
Prisons – There is no greater truth than that in a free society we are defined by how we treat those we send to jail. This is a terrible condemnation of Britain. Our prison system is a production line for turning petty criminals into alienated, aggressive, violent repeat offenders. There is no one who deserves the additional punishments we impose on top of deprivation of liberty. I would make an exception for Chris Grayling who really should be made to experience a taste of his own medicine. The Netherlands is closing prisons because it doesn’t send enough people to jail. We should swallow our pride and copy their system exactly.
Technology – As the nation that has led the world in virtually all new technologies, we are now falling a long way behind. The government has failed miserably to give enough priority to high speed internet. We will never catch up now and our children and our businesses are forever disadvantaged. Progress is hampered in development of new energy sources, transport and infrastructure by bureaucracy, endless bickering between special interest groups and weak strategic management. The EU has magnified all these problems and prevented progress in GM foods and other technologies that are essential to our future.
Transport – With Chris Grayling at the helm and the farce that is HS2, there is no hope for a sensible transport strategy. I simply don’t buy the argument that a slightly faster journey time between north and south will do anything to create a better future. Train fares are ludicrously high. The conditions commuters are expected to travel under are ridiculous. The Southern Rail scandal is a microcosm of government incompetence and inaction. It should have been re-nationalised at least a year ago and there should be massive fines and penalties on those responsible for the chaos, including individuals. I see no conflict with Conservative principles in re-nationalising the whole network. The mess that has prevailed since privatisation could not be any worse and compare us with railway networks and service on the continent for a true picture of our national shame and decay.
Environment – Technology and transport converge with environmental policy and this is a difficult, challenging area of policy. What we need is strong leadership – no, not the empty claims of Mrs May but the real leadership of Mrs Thatcher. Even the despicable Tony Blair showed more leadership than we have had from any current Conservative politician. We need to take bold decisions and act on them. Ecology and controlling pollution must be a real priority but we must not be distracted by the greeny loons and their endless prevarication and delays. I have no objection to fracking as long as it is strictly regulated and in recent visits to Ireland I have seen how forests of wind turbines do not destroy wonderful countryside and can have their own beauty, just as we now revere Victorian aqueducts and civil engineering. Most of all though we should racing ahead with tidal power. As an island it has to be our future and its potential is unlimited.
Northern Ireland – I hope one of the by-products of Brexit will be a united Ireland. There is no longer a real majority of unionists in the six counties and it only ever existed because of immigrants from Scotland. The UK’s shameful history in Ireland places a heavy obligation on us. We are one and the same people and the damage inflicted by the English Parliament on our neighbours must be put right. We are far closer to the Irish than we are to the French, the Dutch or the Belgians. As independent nations, with Ulster properly restored, we could be closer than ever and if Ireland wishes to remain in the EU, we should respect that.
Drugs Policy – No policy better demonstrates the incompetence, prejudice, cowardice and corruption of government ministers from all parties. Deaths from drug overdose have reached an all time high. There has been an explosion in highly toxic new psychoactive substances and the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 has increased harms, deaths, associated crime and potency, exactly as was predicted, warnings the government chose to ignore. The government has refused to consider or take any expert advice on introducing legal access to medical cannabis, something that virtually all other modern democracies are moving forward on. Its continuing policy on cannabis defies scientific evidence and real-life experience from places where reform has been implemented. It also supports the criminal market, encourages street dealing, dangerous hidden cannabis farms and the production of poor quality, low-CBD, so-called ‘skunk’ cannabis.
Defence – A catalogue of cock-ups, dullards in charge and weak, indecisive leadership. In my view we should cancel the renewal of Trident and spend more on conventional weapons and defence measures which we may actually have to use. We should retain some battlefield nuclear weapons but invest more in our soldiers and their technology. We should also look after them far better when they leave the service
Foreign Affairs – The UK is the world superpower in ‘soft power’. Our culture, language, history give us more influence than any other nation and we should be proud to exercise it. We should have the courage to stand for our principles, independently of the USA and Europe. The £12 billion we give in international aid is far too much when there is real poverty at home but even if we halved the present budget we would still lead the world. We are responsible for the injustice perpetrated on the Palestinian people when we facilitated the seizure of their land in the 1940s. We should be standing up to Israel which has become an out-of-control monster. We created it and we must take responsibility for bringing it to order and helping it to live alongside its neighbours respectfully. Its conduct is unacceptable and we should be pursuing war crimes prosecutions against Netanyahu and many of his cronies.
Housing – The housing crisis needs a courageous, radical solution, not the pathetic, sticking plaster gimmicks and gestures that is all we have had for 50 years. Massive investment in social housing would create jobs and boost the economy all round. We shouldn’t hesitate. We shouldn’t fear a dramatic fall in house prices caused by massive extra supply. We have to get real and government must stop shirking its responsibility for a strategic role that only it can fill.
Boris is the only one with a brain
I have not yet decided whether I shall renew my membership. I’m not even sure if there is any future in the UK for me. Brexit was a great opportunity which has been sabotaged, perhaps fatally. Britain may well become a tourist destination, fascinating for the way such a small nation led the world for centuries. We are being led by weak, ineffectual, self-serving, out-of-touch and out-of date politicians. As the Conservative Party is dying, it is dragging Britain down with it.
Peter Reynolds 
Trouble is, the options are far worse. It’s better the devil you know and you can only hope they start pulling themselves up by their collars soon. Heck, so many corners are complaining. Can they not hear? Then again, look what is happening over in the US. We are not as bad as that by far but we should really be shoring that country our disgust, not smiling sweetly at that idiot and continue dealing with him.
Theress
August 7, 2017 at 12:00 am
tory /bbc policy you tory fascist you are the party of death people die under tory rule while they scam everyone including you sad inhuame tory voter disgusting selfserving devisive thats what tory stand for forgot one master back stabbers well done im alright jack f–k the rest
trevor
September 1, 2017 at 10:36 am
Ah! The hatred, bitterness, spite and bile is strong with this one. Careful there Trevor, all that poison can be extremely bad for your health.
Peter Reynolds
September 1, 2017 at 10:43 am
There is very good reason for all the hatred and bitterness. Conservatives have been extremely bad for our heath. As a disabled person I just cannot understand why instead of giving me a little help to be independent, they prefer to take everything away because I’m a scrounger. I am definitely not as there is nothing, NOTHING I want more than to be independent again. Thanks to ATOS who seemed to think I faked my hysterectomy to avoid a work capability assessment, I lost my house and everything in it apart from my clothes and a few books. As they took everything, I couldn’t even afford to hire a small van, so that was it. Fortunately one of my friends took me in. And I’m one of the lucky ones. 10,600 people have died between within weeks of being declared fit for work. That’s a figure that should make everyone feel hatred towards an uncaring government who callously sentenced some of the most vulnerable in society to death.
If you are a disabled person in the UK, you have to face the fact that you may die due to the draconian measures introduced by David Cameron and continued by Theresa May. They seem to think disability = lack of motivation. So they remove every bit of support that was in place to ‘encourage’ disabled people to get up, get back to work and start making a profit for their Tory overlords. If only. There is no one more motivated than me and it kills me that my body won’t let me be a productive member of society. I personally don’t feel any hatred, bitterness, spite or bile, but I defend Trevor if he does. He has every right to. I’m angry that I and every other disabled person are in this appalling position. But I live in hope that one day it will change for us. For me personally, I want to be patched up so I can get back to work, to having some kind of a life. I am bedbound 95% of the time, so I have no life. How can anyone think that I would choose this because I’m too lazy to work, is beyond me. I don’t need motivation, I have shed loads of it. I am in the mess I’m in now because I pushed myself too hard and my body collapsed. I try to remain positive because miracles sometimes happen.
So please don’t be so disdainful of people like Trevor, who are angry at what 7 years of Conservative austerity policies have done to people like me. Instead be disdainful of a WCA assessor who asked a claimant, “What makes you think you have Down Syndrome?” in the hope she would say she didn’t have it. Then the assessor could take everything she needed to survive away from her. Be disdainful of the government who make it MORE difficult for disabled people to have normal lives, while claiming they are doing us a favour. Be disdainful of a government who claim to be saving money by taking away Motability cars. Disabled people who relied on them to get to work lost their jobs and had to claim benefits which cost MORE to the country than their DLA. This meant they lost their physical and financial independence and were entirely at the mercy of a WC Assessor. That’s clearly not about saving money, that’s eugenics by the back door. I don’t know about you, Peter, but I don’t want the sacrifice of so many young men in WW2 to have been for nothing. As a country, we are better than that, aren’t we?
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/feb/26/francesca-martinez-comedian-welfare-cuts-disabled-people
Devon
September 1, 2017 at 10:25 pm
I am sick of the response, the options are far worse. How do you know? When was the last time we had a Labour government led by Corbyn? Never! So how can anyone judge what they would be like in power? It’s impossible. But I seriously doubt a Labour government – or any non-Tory government – could do worse than the current incumbents.
It’s true too that we need proportional representation. Certainly the current first past the post form of democracy is patently unfair.
Ian Williams
September 2, 2017 at 5:06 pm
The only thing that will trigger radical reform in the Tory party is taking away their toys – ie, giving control of the country to Labour.
They won’t do it unless they are forced. We can’t just keep electing them to power and expect them to change. 3 months after the election, and no sign of change, just pushing the same tired old crap and getting their mates in the press to lie to everyone and help them get away with appalling failure, scrutiny free.
Mark Frankie Richardson
September 3, 2017 at 1:39 am
the options are not far worse. The Labour party leadership agrees with just about everything in here. They aren’t the monsters they have been made out to be. The surprise performance in the election is because many people who didn’t know what the Labour leadership was really like got to see.
Mark Frankie Richardson
September 3, 2017 at 1:37 am
You seem to be a MacMillan sort of conservative in a thatcherite party, in practice perhaps you are a cautious socialdemocrat; with some leaders of New Labour probably being to your right, you could be more comfortable as an hattersleyte Labourist, as your point of view is not at all of the “Blow you! I am allright Jack” sort, which is the point of view of proper conservativism.
The most obvious symptom is that you have spent not a word on the two major conservative successes: the long boom in property and share prices, and the trend of wages and job security becoming more “competitive”, both of them delivering enhanced living standards to many conservative voters.
Those two successes are the reasons why many people vote Conservative and gave Cameron and Osborne a bigger shared of the vote in 2015, the other points that you make matter a lot less to them.
Blissex
August 8, 2017 at 9:55 am
I couldn’t disagree more with your analysis of my position!
If you want to place a label on me, I am a Thatcherite. As for your defamatory claim that “the point of view of proper conservativism…[is} Blow you! I am allright Jack”, this is utter nonsense and a cheap shot.
The property boom is not a success, it is all fake money and I predict it will soon implode. As for the idea that falling wages and increasing job insecurity is also a “success”, what planet are you on?
The only things that keep me in touch with the Conservative Party are the fundamental principles that I set out in the article and a deep aversion to the delusional idea of socialism. I oppose probably three-quarters of this present government’s polices. As I said, Theresa May is a fake Tory, she’s an Authoritarian Bureaucrat.
Peter Reynolds
August 8, 2017 at 10:09 am
«I am a Thatcherite»
But you also want a “a benevolent, responsible, one-nation approach”, and Thatcher and thatcherism were in hard opposition against the one nation belevolent toryism of MacMillan and Heath, such as they were. B Johnson in an article (2009-05-03) in the Daily Telegraph acknowledges that the popular perception is “Thatcher is a boo-word in British politics, a shorthand for selfishness and me-first-ism, and devil-take-the-hindmost and grinding the faces of the poor”. That perception may be wrong, perhaps it was more N Ridley and K Joseph who deserved it, but there is something to it; the Selsdon Group was not exactly advocating one nation conservatism…
«The property boom is not a success, it is all fake money and I predict it will soon implode. As for the idea that falling wages and increasing job insecurity is also a “success”, what planet are you on?»
Well, those are successes because both improve the incomes and living standards of conservative voters, and that should not really need explaining, but: for most conservative voters income from property and shares are a large if not major part of their total income, and the profits of business and the costs of living of most conservative voters improve if workers are more “affordable”.
Every conservative voter remortgaging the huge capital gains on their 3-bed semi in the south and paying what to them are extortionate rates for cleaners, carers, gardeners can see that, as well as every Conservative party sponsor, from cafe owners to Mr. Ashley, reckong their profits grow as wages and job security become more “competitive”.
Perhaps you are thinking that the Conservatives should be the party of libertarian prosperity for all (and maybe you think that is what thatcherism was about), but to me they seem really the party of better living standards for party sponsors and party voters deriving much or most of their income from property and business; the Conservatives seem to me the party of the interests of affluent incumbents. And people with those interests deserve political representation too, and they are quite many people.
It would be interesting to know how your opinion of “Britannia Unchained” conservativism…
Blissex
August 8, 2017 at 11:14 am
“…the Conservatives should be the party of libertarian prosperity for all (and maybe you think that is what thatcherism was about)”
Correct!
Peter Reynolds
August 8, 2017 at 12:28 pm
«We need to re-focus on our fundamental principles: individual liberty, individual responsibility, small government, free markets, evidence-based policy and a benevolent, responsible, one-nation approach.»
«The property boom is not a success, it is all fake money and I predict it will soon implode. As for the idea that falling wages and increasing job insecurity is also a “success”, what planet are you on?»
Uhm, on further reflection those seem to me more the politics of the Vince Cable wing of the Liberals, the strand of socially and economically “enlightened” Liberalism, JM Keynes style, that was trying to compete with Labour for the votes of some of the recently enfranchised workers in the 1920s.
«As I said, Theresa May is a fake Tory, she’s an Authoritarian Bureaucrat»
But for me the “proper” tories have been for most of their history using “Authoritarian Bureaucrat”ism to implement their policies and defend their interests, from religious conformism to access to higher education to tariffs to law-and-order etc.
it is the whigs, of which there are some in the Conservative party, who are against “Authoritarian Bureaucrat”ism, and it is the social/economic “enlightened” whigs who are against authoritarianism and for a “one-nation approach“.
Blissex
August 8, 2017 at 11:30 am
I’m not sure why you want to put me in a pigeon hole. My politics is Peter Reynolds politics. I’m a liberal but verging towards the right. I was a member of the Liberal Democrats once but couldn’t possibly be with Tim Farron as leader. I am a committed Brexiteer. I respect Vince Cable but I don’t agree with a lot of his ideas. if Norman Lamb had taken over the leadership I would seriously have considered re-joining.
Authoritarianism is the very opposite of the individualism which is a fundamental Tory value. I agree, in practice there has been too much ‘nasty party’ authoritarianism and there is a peculiarly nasty strand of Tory arrogance that I abhor.
Peter Reynolds
August 8, 2017 at 12:27 pm
with no meaningful middle ground to shelter in it is little wonder that commentators who are natural inhabitors within the party of their choice are so confused and at a loss to be clear about things when clarity is of huge importance. I have voted Conservative for over 40 years but this time round as did many others who saw the GE 2017 as a brexit vote, put Lib Dem on the ballot paper. Why? Because it was not the winning that was important; it was the principle that was important. I find myself ridiculing this government and its so called policies. The cabinet is nothing but a loudhailer for Z list politicos whose careerist ambition is tattooed on their faces for all to see. Labour is no different, they just have problems of their own making. The illiteracy of both parties is staggering. Good on Anna Soubry who has the strength and conviction to put her country before her party first. She is a rare animal in Westminster. Politics in Westminster is full of very dim politicians and onbly a few bright ones. There is no middle ground. There will never be any middle ground. The whole Brexit mess is self inflicted and in Brian Cox’s werds… the arrow points from Order to disorder. Doomsday for planet earth is 6 billion years away when the sun implodes. Perhaps in 6 million seconds the two major parties inb this disunited green and pleasant land will implode and we will get a new dawn.
Peter Callomon
August 18, 2017 at 10:20 pm
[…] Source: Has There Ever Been A Worse UK Government Than This? […]
Has There Ever Been A Worse UK Government Than This? – stewilko's Blog
August 15, 2017 at 3:07 pm
Reblogged this on Life, Leeds United, the Universe & Everything and commented:
A Tory speaks. Some of his “facts” are a bit shaky – 42 million voted for Berexit?? Not in THIS reality – but his annihilation of this disastrous generation of Tories is spot on.
Rob Atkinson
August 15, 2017 at 4:50 pm
My apologies, you’re quite correct. I have amended accordingly.
Peter Reynolds
August 15, 2017 at 5:07 pm
42 million voted for Brexit !! Are you having a laugh? Try 17.4 million.
Kevin Lane
August 15, 2017 at 4:54 pm
Yes, thank you, you’re absolutely correct. I have amended the article.
Peter Reynolds
August 15, 2017 at 5:07 pm
A very good piece! This government (and its predecessors) is hostage to lobby groups: property developers, energy companies, rail franchises and, in one form or another, organised crime; the Russian ‘active measures operations’ may even be involved! Cut out the lobby groups and we may get a one nation democracy.
I can’t agree with you about Brexit. The only winner from the break up of the EU will be Russia. In the U.S.A. Russian interference in elections is taken seriously. In the U.K. it is not even considered! Could this be that too many British politicians are subject to Russian ‘kompromat’?
Andrew Breslin
August 15, 2017 at 6:16 pm
I suspect that a government that is hostage to lobby groups is just the natural end result of free market capitalism.
Mark Frankie Richardson
September 3, 2017 at 2:00 am
After reading your thoughts on Northern Ireland, I would love to see if you hold the same views for Scotland. Incidentally, I do agree with quite alot of what you say. In hindsight, I have never actually been able to pinpoint where I might be on the political scale so reading your thoughts on conservatism has somewhat thrown me.
Robin Barclay
August 16, 2017 at 6:55 am
If you mean do I support Scottish independence, no I don’t. I think that Scotland is naturally a part of the UK whereas Northern Ireland is not.
I support more devolution of powers to Scotland and Wales (I am a Welshman) but not independence.
Peter Reynolds
August 16, 2017 at 9:33 am
You see the problem in the main for most of pro-independence voices is that we could likely handle it if we were deemed as an equal part of the UK with full control over our money (devomax if you will) but we are not and sadly the government which you vilify above is proving that more and more everyday.
Robin Barclay
August 16, 2017 at 9:51 am
Peter I am an unashamed ‘leftie’. A little over 2 years ago I saw a very bleak future for the left, because however hard Cameron and Osborne tried to ruin the country, self identifying ‘Conservative’ supporters continued to vote like turkeys impatient for Christmas. I understand that individual effort, hard work, individual liberty via small government etc., the post Disraeli ‘one nation’ conservatism, are notions which incline you politically towards the Conservative Party. But the cumulative effect of the past two Conservative led administrations must surely lead you to question the sincerity of the rhetoric which so persuaded you in the first place. I did write a blog recently, http://tridentine2013.tumblr.com/post/163328493342/winning-the-hearts-and-minds-of-the-twopenny which in somewhat broad brush terms is intended to first characterise, and then question the notion that anyone not born to historical, generational privilege can fully engage with the core principles of the Tory roots of modern Conservatism, which continue to inform the party’s ideology. I am most impressed by your assessment of the tories in power since 2010. You are absolutely right, in my view, about many of the issues. It must have occurred to you at some point, that you were precisely echoing the Labour opposition’s criticisms and or policies. Ever thought of voting for the party truly seeking to represent your interests?
sidneyharter
August 16, 2017 at 1:02 pm
I couldn’t possibly vote for a party that advocates the delusional, proven failure that is socialism. I’m on the cusp between a pre-Farron Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives. Had Norman Lamb become LibDems leaderr i would almost certainly have signed up.
As it is there is no party that properly represents me. I have not renewed my Conservative party membership and I don’t see any real possibility that I will do so.
Peter Reynolds
August 16, 2017 at 1:17 pm
If u look at Labour Party manifesto, it isn’t socialism, it’s social democracy. Not much difference to 1945. It is centre ground. Media (obviously, as it supports Cons Party 80%) says otherwise. Just take a read.
However, I am not posting to try to persuade u to join another Party. I am wondering if there is anything you can do, as a Cons Party member to change the route this party is taking because it is killing us(1000s in the population, literally. As you indicate there is the symbol of social cleansing & profit before people that is Grenfell. But also, across the country, just do a search re PIP & u will see how many people have died in destitution & misery whilst having been declared ‘fit for work’ & whilst waiting for their appeal. (In case u didn’t know, this means they would either live on no money at all, OR have to apply for Jobseekers allowance & apply for jobs despite their doctors making it clear they are unfit). This is YOUR Party. Please for the people of the UK who are NOT in the top 10%, use whatever influence u have to make a difference.
veronica57livecouk
August 17, 2017 at 11:53 am
Delusional, proven failure that is socialism? It’s interesting that anyone who is as engaged and switched on as yourself … as ‘analytical’, would make such a claim. I am not even going to discuss the many examples of successful, socialist states, or even the extent to which external (usually US) western capitalist regimes have sought to actively undermine the economies of any ‘promising examples’. All I am going to do is to point out that even if none of these things were true, the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Capitalist states have failed, Feudal states have failed, Stratocracies, Dictatorships, virtually any form of government is capable of failure in inauspicious circumstances… I find it quite confusing that those on the right believe that any left leaning administration’s failure, often regardless of the internal and external oppositional factors brought to bear, ‘proves’ that ‘socialism does not work’ …
sidneyharter
August 17, 2017 at 12:24 pm
I find it very interesting that you do have a reasonable and critical approach toward your own party, and I cannot applaud it more, but you do seem to have irrational hatred of the world socialism.
I like your article and it is ment on the well written, hence my astonishment.
I do not live in the UK, but Istudy politics, and there is much to observe and learn from UK nowadays. I do not share your biases, I am not a passionate Tory or Labour, although my personal political stance would be with the left.
In the article you do actually sound a lot like reasonable part of Labour, your core ideas are similar, you differ in details, that you would probable be able to work out.
It always amazes me how politics is similar to religion in its irrational division. Politics shall be the most rational and logic based art as it influence everyone’s life.
I would also argue that your assessment that socialism is proven failure is false. You may disagree with the idea, but socialism has never been proven to be a failure as there was never a socialist country as per definition.
Furthermore, even the countries declaring themselves as socialist never had a fair chance competing in the world. CIA in the 1950 declared that the biggest threat to American way of life will be if socialist country will ever be successful. Naturally the US policy for years was focused on fighting these countries by any means they could get away with.
It is a big subject, I brought up couple of facts just to draw your attention and perhaps encourage to do a bit of studies on this.
You have a good mind. Shame to limit it with prejudice.
Yarpen Zigrin
September 1, 2017 at 12:49 pm
Thanks for your comment. My considered opinion is not “prejudice”. My disdain for socialism is founded on much thought and not ‘pre-judgement’. I consider that socialism is a fundamentally flawed idea, antithetical to human nature and an impossible ideal that only causes harm in pursuit of its unrealistic goals. I am referring to classic socialism though, where the state owns the means of production, distribution and exchange. I have no problem with a mixed economy and I would advocate nationalisation of basic, essential services such as health, energy, rail, the road network and possibly telecommunications. These are services we all need and subject to controls to prevent complacency, inefficiency and bureaucracy, it is wrong that private shareholders (particularly from overseas) should be earning profits and controlling investment in essential services.
Peter Reynolds
September 1, 2017 at 12:59 pm
but you’re happy to advocate the delusional, proven failure that is small state individualism. That’s totally fine to you, no matter how unrealistic and unworkable it is?
Mark Frankie Richardson
September 3, 2017 at 2:12 am
Have you heard of Modern Money Theory? It is a real and true description of how a sovereign fiat currency works. The current Tory government appears to be brutal in their deficit reduction policies, which has seen massive cuts across all areas of public service. It is threatening to push us into recession, again, and something will happen soon to trigger another crash. It has increased inequality and made it far more difficult to pull one’s up by the boot laces to become successful. Its the dismantling of the social safety net, without creating high enough paid jobs to work securely. With living standards falling year by year in the first time since ever, We are being turned to Greece.
Jeremy Corbyn is seen as an answer to this, from a socialism direction. I don’t agree with many of his policies, and I didn’t vote for him last election. But, the alternative that is being offered by current Tory policy, is the far worse of the two options. This is why Labour are doing so well in the polls.
Its about time that the government starts learning a bit about modern economics, and not this brutal pursuit of deficit reduction above all other.
Tony
August 16, 2017 at 1:09 pm
Yes, I agree with you! My disdain for Mrs May and her cronies is fast turning into something much stronger. Frankly, I despise her and I think she is dragging Britain into the gutter.
Peter Reynolds
August 16, 2017 at 1:20 pm
It could be my reading, which is not good due to MS, but I cannot see any reference to the appalling actions towards the disabled of Britain for no better reason than they were unable to work !!!
.My MS and COPD were diagnosed towards the end of life as a Tory voter and a life fully employed as a Primary school teacher. It cannot be cured and unemployment benefits etc were only accepted under pressure from my family as I was declining and beginning to be concerned about my ‘safety’ in the classroom due to falls and cognitive issues.
I joined the disabled just in time to find myself in a group labelled as idle, scroungers and work shy after a full working life and payment of all my dues. I saw people commit suicide due to constant battles to gain their entitlement even though they had already been assessed as disabled by medical specialists and were basically called liars (as, by default were their consultants and their scans and tests) and had to accept stress and anxiety on top of chronic illnesses – the two things most damaging to chronic illness.
Adrian Horne
August 16, 2017 at 6:48 pm
I certainly didn’t give the subject the attention it deserves. In my mind it’s included in Social Policy. A close friend of mine was put through a nearly two year wait on appeal for his PIP and then received a payment of £8k. That is the measure of the deprivation he was put through unnecessarily. The whole system is a disgrace.
Peter Reynolds
August 16, 2017 at 9:10 pm
The PIP issue is absolutely horrendous. Sorry to hear your story & particularly that it is one amongst thousands. Many people declared fit for work have died before their appeals – died of the illness they were diagnosed with by their doctors. There is also the issue of zero hours contracts which, at its worse, is nothing worse than slavery. Where u can be summoned to work at the last minute – travel there & find you’re only needed for an hour & have no idea of ur hours (& therefore income) from one week to another. Look at the increase in suicides over the last 7 years.
veronica57livecouk
August 17, 2017 at 12:00 pm
JC4PM GET OVER IT
Dennis Brown
August 17, 2017 at 10:21 am
[…] Source: Has There Ever Been A Worse UK Government Than This? […]
Has There Ever Been A Worse UK Government Than This? – leftwing nobody
August 17, 2017 at 1:31 pm
best description i’ve read on the state of the nation under mrs may and the tory cabinet. thank you.
Martin Graham Cloud Coaching Ltd
August 17, 2017 at 5:53 pm
Yes absolutely appalling, corrupt and morally bankrupt government.
Why would you renew membership of the party responsible?
Coilla Drake
August 17, 2017 at 6:12 pm
Well I should have thought that was crystal clear! It’s the first thing I explain in the article – because I believe deeply in what I believe are the fundamental principles of the Conservative Party: individual liberty, individual responsibility, small government, free markets, evidence-based policy and a benevolent, responsible, one-nation approach.
Sadly, for me, the shysters who now run the party are unprincipled, self-serving toads who have no regard at all for anything except their own advantage. They have already subverted the referendum result and no doubt are looking forward to their days as EU commissioners. To me this perfectly reveals the truth about the EU and why I am a committed Brexiteer.
Anyway, I haven’t renewed my membership and I won’t be doing so.
Peter Reynolds
August 17, 2017 at 6:31 pm
I cannot understand how booming property prices are a good thing. All it does is put more and more people in a position where they cannot afford to get a mortgage and this only helps to also inflate rents, when most peoples wages over the last 9 years have pretty much flat-lined, unless you are a banker or company director! The relation between average wages and house prices is ever widening.
We need more house, lots more, and we need a government who can actually make that happen, all they have done so far is tinker around the edges very ineffectively. The Help to Buy is doing very little, other than help raise prices. We need more government, LA, NHS, Church of England and other private land that is currently derelict being put to good use by being sold off into cheap single plots or small parcels of plots to individuals, and local builders so that more people can have a reasonably low cost access to a new home, one that they could even build themselves or with local builders. We should be more like other countries where self builds are as much as 60% of house builds, we rely far too heavily on the big developers who help control prices by the amount of land they bank and the build rate they control. If people cannot afford mortgages the government should not be using tax payers money to help them!
The real problem is people should be better paid and that wasted tax put to better use, freeing up more state owned land cheaply for self builds and small builders and Co-operatives. Better pay, not more tax payer funded schemes and benefits etc.
Keith Baker
August 17, 2017 at 6:48 pm
I completely agree with every word.
Peter Reynolds
August 17, 2017 at 7:45 pm
If house prices fall, so does the banking network as the banks will suddenly have an overload of toxic paper on their books again, making them insolvent. Would a second round of QE work to bail them out again? Maybe. Maybe.
Bill Kruse
August 18, 2017 at 12:26 am
Worse government ever, full of liars and killers!
Yvette Holden
August 17, 2017 at 8:53 pm
And paedos, or those that protect them
Alan
September 1, 2017 at 8:42 am
Brexit is the calculated deceit. It is the sabotage.
I’m glad to begin to read consertive voters acknowledging how bad things have got – but you won’t really have understood the predicament until you appreciate how the entire descent into brexit – the vote itself, the lack of preparation, the legislative fudge, the attempts to avoid parliamentary scrutiny, the have and eat cake fantasies, the interpretation of the result as a verdict on ECJ and customs union etc, the placement of Johnson et al in cabinet, the DUP bung… all of this is a deceitful effort to retain power, beyond any ability to do good things with that power.
alexbicknell
August 17, 2017 at 9:29 pm
Nonsense. You have everything back to front. The EU is a self-serving oligarchy, perfectly designed to seduce the political and civil service elites of the member states. Its massive, overbearing bureaucracy is ‘jobs for the boys (and girls)’ on a scale never seen since the Soviet Union. It creates and sustains bureaucracies by ever-expanding legislation and regulations which concentrate more power at the centre. When its faithful supporters lose their jobs either through elections, redundancy or retirement it provides them with secure, alternative career and retirement options, the most senior becoming commissioners on massive salaries with fantastic perks and allowances enabling a lavish lifestyle.
The lack of preparation for Brexit is because the politicians want it to fail. Theresa May’s attempt to gain a bigger majority was so that she could roll back from the clean Brexit that we voted for. Yes, it is all a deceitful effort to retain power, power within the Westminster branch office of the EU oligarchy (which includes just as many corrupt scumbags from the Labour Party as from the Conservatives).
Peter Reynolds
August 18, 2017 at 8:54 am
Peter, I am most disappointed by your attitude to the EU. I am surprised that, as an obviously intelligent person, you can have such an incorrect, and crazy, view of the EU.
You really do not appear to have a clue of what the EU is, and how it operates, do you?
Please read and learn, the EU is a club of nations that have similar aims, for harmony of social needs, standards of living and technical standards, as well as freedom to work in each others economies, and work together as a trading bloc (the worlds largest) to get good tariff deals from the rest of the world, while eliminating tariffs between member countries.
The choices of what to include, or not, in our common purpose are agreed by the member nations, in regular treaties, those treaties include matters where all, or most, member governments give competence to the EU to manage those identified matters!
Every matter where the EU has competence has had prior approval of the member nations governments!
The only decision making bodies in the EU are the council of ministers, comprised of ministers from each nations governments, and the elected members of the European Parliament, where the UK hold 10% of of the seats (we are very influential if we get rid of UKIP interlopers like farage)
The EU commission are paid public servants, each department headed by a commissioner from a member country. They do not make laws, like the UK civil service they make recommendations and investigate options, as the professional advisers. The number of EU ‘civil servants’ is minuscule, compared to the UK civil service
The European Courts of Justice, do not make laws, they act as courts of arbitration, to decide on disputes between nations about the application of EU laws. Just for clarification, please do not confuse the ECJ with the ECHR, the European Court of Human Rights is not, and never has been an EU institution
EU laws only become applicable to the UK after the UK government have previously agreed to make them into UK laws, obviously, agreed EU amendments to those laws are also incorporated.
The great repeal act is the governments attempt to remove over 40 years of progress from the statute book, and replace it with their horrendous alternatives, stripping away many worker rights, and killing technical environmental, living and business quality standards. Taking us back to the early part of the 20th century, disgusting!
Brexit is the most stupid, idiotic, unwise and crazy public policy ever conceived, if it goes ahead it will be an unmitigated social and fiscal disaster for the UK, leading to a deep depression.
I agree with your summation of the members of the present government, they really are most incompetent, but in my 70 years I have seen this pattern before from tory governments, their attitude is, like yours, for small government and free enterprise, but they haven’t a clue how to realistically and sensibly manage it.
It may have escaped your notice, as you don’t appear to mention it, that in the past seven years of tory rule, while decimating public spending, the national debt has doubled, to around £1.8 Trillion. As tax payers we are currently servicing that debt at a rate of some £70 Billion a year in interest.
In contrast, our net contribution to the EU amounts to around 8 Billion a year.
Tory governments can never get their head around the fact that fiscal management is a fine balancing act, not a ‘bull at a gate’ destruction of fiscal policies.
P.S. I believe that I am qualified to comment. I have a Masters in UK and European Public Policy from Bristol.
graham669
August 19, 2017 at 8:51 am
Thank you Peter for this exposition of the EU’s raison d’etre – beautiful. Gisela Stuart was a strong EU-er, and in 2003-ish she was on the EU Commission’s Constitution Treaty’s committee AND was on the 13-‘person’ Praesidium for the relevant (waste of money & pretence) gathering. Now that is her being chosen as one of the 13 out of a mass of 751 MEP politicos ! Compare that to being one of 28 politicos presiding in the UK cabinet out of a mass of 650 UK MP politicos . She was unimpressed by what she learnt re the mind-set of the inner circle at that level of the EU. Her explanation of what she learnt was presented to the Fabians. Your “The EU is a self-serving oligarchy, perfectly designed to seduce the political and civil service elites of the member states.” leans towards her description of what the EU game is. It is exceedingly dangerous.
NB she spent the referendum campaign as the Chair of the ‘Vote Leave’ Campaign !!! A volte face from so pro-EU to so ‘Leave EU’ . That must indicate how insidious, stealthy · subtle · surreptitious · sneaking · cunning · crafty · Machiavellian · artful · guileful · sly · wily · tricky · slick · deceitful · deceptive · dishonest · underhand · backhanded · indirect · sneaky (take your pick) she saw clearly that they were !
I think you should read more widely to see the similar problem with the so called philosophy that is the greed operation of Conservatism. Corbyn is a must. He speaks truth to people, but the MSM and the right-wing operation out there distort – lies get round the world 3 times before truth has a chance to be heard. By the way we only have 1 planet and the Corporate Lobbying indulged in by your Tories is destroying the living for all beings.
Martin Rudland
August 19, 2017 at 11:12 am
Reblogged this on The love of God and commented:
Don’t leave. Stay, and win arguments, but choose intelligent people to have them with.
tellthetruth1
August 18, 2017 at 1:14 pm
Yes, that was my rationale – to work from within to try and change the party. But the reality is very depressing. There is no democracy within the party. It is run from the top, imposing decisions on a largely apathetic but entirely subjugated membership.
Peter Reynolds
August 18, 2017 at 1:21 pm
Have you ever wondered why the Conservative party is run from the top as you describe Peter? Could it be because the party donors are dictating policy decisions?
ashley retallick
September 1, 2017 at 5:58 pm
I’m sure you’re correct, just as with the unions and Labour.
Peter Reynolds
September 1, 2017 at 6:05 pm
Thank you for taking the time to answer my question Peter. However, I’d just like to point out that the last Labour government did nothing to restore the power of the unions, so if the unions are paying in for political influence, they appear to have wasted their members money. The Cons, on the other hand, are funded by a Who’s Who of tax evasion. And continue to do nothing about tax evasion.
ashley retallick
September 1, 2017 at 6:28 pm
Yes, I sympathise with that. It’s one of my great worries. Instead of being the party of free enterprise and small business, as led by the grocer’s daughter, it’s become big business, monopoly power, fat cats and corruption.
Peter Reynolds
September 1, 2017 at 6:38 pm
Hi Peter, I read this article with great interest and growing amazement – here is somebody with whom I agree on virtually everything you say. It is a well argued piece with clear and cogent arguments detailing why we need a change of Government. Other than singling out Chris Grayling as the worst Conservative politician when you have the likes of Jeremy Hunt, Ian Duncan-Smith, Boris Johnson etc in contention, I can’t really find fault at all. I agree with you on housing, renationalising the railways, cutting foreign aid, getting out of the EU (although possibly for different reasons), scrapping Tridant, green policies, Israel, Northern Ireland, prisons, drugs – the list goes on.
Where we differ is that you are still hoping the Tories will deliver strong Government and bring this about whereas I believe the only way of delivering this agenda is by getting rid of the Conservatives and bringing in a Labour Government under Jeremy Corbyn.
Go on, I dare you, cross the floor and join the right side😊
Michael Porter
August 18, 2017 at 3:35 pm
Jeremy Hunt, Ian Duncan-Smith and Boris Johnson are paragons of virtue compared to Chris Grayling. Boris could turn round the fortunes of the Conservative Party and the UK in six months if given the chance.
No, I don’t believe the Conservative Party will deliver and I am not renewing my membership while the current leadership persists. On a question of principle I could never join or vote for a party that advocates socialism. While I admire Corbyn in many ways I am disgusted at his cowardice and hypocrisy in forcing Sarah Champion to resign for correctly stating that we have big problem with “British Pakistani men raping and exploiting white girls.”
Peter Reynolds
August 18, 2017 at 3:43 pm
Boris Johnson would be a disaster for the Tories and the country, and a gift for Jeremy Corbyn. Daft idea.
But Sarah Champion’s mistake was twofold. She said what she said in the Sun and not the Guardian and she mentioned the race. If she had said ‘raping a child and claiming a cultural norm as your get out of jail card is still child rape and your culture is abhorrent’ she’d still be on the front bench.
Politics is a war of words but there are rules about what words can be employed on the battlefield. Straight talk and telling it like it is has to be used very sparingly and only in mopping up a vanquished foe.
Alan
September 1, 2017 at 9:00 am
Hi
I have just given up my Labour membership, due mainly to lack of commitmemt to protecting our environment eg Heathrow runway, sheffield trees etc as unions prioritise jobs.
Also I do believe that people need to have more self reliance and take more responsibility, instead of relying on state. However, the present govt are making it harder for struggling and vulnerable people to get a better life, which I think is despicable.I have recently discovered Disraeli’s ‘Sybil’ and am currently getting through it.
My parents were/are Traditional Conservatives and would be appalled at the present lot. Even my mu is questioning tuition fees.
So I am partly agreeing with your situation but from another angle.
See the ‘bright blue’ twitter account, for more thoughtful conservatism.
judy hindle
August 18, 2017 at 5:28 pm
I was a member of BrightBlue for about a year after it started. They offer nothing new, they’re just a bunch of sycophants, totally under the thumb of the boring, bigoted old farts at the top
I see no future for the Conservatives at all. The party is literally dying.
Peter Reynolds
August 18, 2017 at 5:33 pm
Peter, how many have said that before about the Labour Party? But they come back and reinvent themselves, slightly different but fundamentally the same.
As long as there are unions and public sector workers whose sense of duty and Civic pride is greater than their greed there will be a labour party of sorts. That’s why the tories want to smash the unions and the state support of the population.
And as long as there are paranoid, unhappy greedy people who think of nobody but themselves, and think everybody wants to take their stuff, there will be Tory voters supporting the tories.
Alan
September 1, 2017 at 9:13 am
Ah yes, of course, I forgot, all Tories are evil, selfish, uncaring tyrants and all supporters of Labour are decent, honourable, caring, paragons of virtue.
Peter Reynolds
September 1, 2017 at 9:31 am
Get back to being a Tory? Get out of government all you tories. Lets have some care for people not for the few for the many. No tory government ever cared for the poor only the rich
Jennifer Curroei
August 18, 2017 at 5:42 pm
Generalisation, prejudice, bigotry and falsehood. Do you seriously expect to get anywhere with gibberish like that?
Now if you said some Tories, too many Tories but don’t forget MPs all parties who behave in similar fashion in their pompous ivory towers – well then you might have a chance of being taken seriously.
Peter Reynolds
August 18, 2017 at 5:52 pm
I find this blog really fascinating to read — I am a Remain proponent (not a Remain voter, as an EU citizen I could not vote). You’re right that the government doesn’t even bother to make Brexit work, whatever that would mean. However, I am not sure whether Brexit can work, and so I am really interested to read, from someone who is an enthusiast for Brexit, how it can be combined with the UK’s soft power? Currently, Brexit seems to be burning bridges more than creating ones (and the UK’s insistence of not allowing more, say, Indian students, or Australians into the country because of that net migration target is not helping).
What kind of Brexit do you see – what vision do you have for it? As it stands, the only thing the government seems to care for is not losing face (not something that is succeeding, as they’re widely laughed at in the foreign media), and damage control. There is nothing left of the alleged positives. I read a Brexiter (forgot who) say a while ago that “we will survive brexit” Survive? I would hope that such a big decision – regardless of how many people voted for it, would be more than survival, but would help the population thrive.
helendecruz
August 18, 2017 at 7:08 pm
A full answer to that would take thousands of words!
Brexit could have been a bold, confident expansion across the world, maximising Britain’s soft power and re-opening old trading relationships.
Instead we are led by a Remainer, an authoritarian bureaucrat with a long record of failure surrounded by weak, cowardly, ineffectual schemers. All the damn politicians are too fond of their iobs but have total amnesia about who pays their wages.
I’m trying to find something positive about our future…
Peter Reynolds
August 18, 2017 at 9:21 pm
Ok, thanks. I do hope you write a separate post about this as I would like to see this fleshed out in more detail. For instance, Remainers worry that the global trade relationships would lead to diminishing standards for food, health and safety (bleached chickens etc), and they worry that the barriers being put up with their current largest trading partners (the EU-27 countries) would not be compensated for. Whatever the future holds, I do still love the UK and hope that things turn out for the best, so any realistic scenario of how Brexit would make Britain better off, not poorer, would give us hope
helendecruz
August 19, 2017 at 9:22 am
sounds as though you are full of your own self importance
michealbreathnach66
August 18, 2017 at 8:01 pm
You may wish to ask why the official decision was taken prior to the referendum that no analysis or preparation was allowed by policy staff in considering a Leave vote and the possible impact on policies. Same as for Scottish independence- civil servants not allowed to plan for the unthinkable in case it happened.
We no longer have a government – we have a dictatorship masquerading as government
2017 Ex civil servant
August 19, 2017 at 9:43 am
quite a remarkable article coming from a tory. Two things that were failed to be mentioned, austerity and the abhorrent, cruel heartless treatment of the chronically sick and disabled, or would they have to be a whole new lengthy articles?
As a 60 year old disabled lady who was notified 3 years before she thought she was going to retire at 60, that she was in fact not retiring at 60 but at 66, i was devastated.
Having been on the receiving end of the vile hatelful unfit for purpose tick box assessment system, i now find i have another 6 years to fight the system and repeatedly prove my inability to work as and when the dwp decide, and i honestly don’t know if i have the fight left in me anymore. After one particular vicious onslaught by the dwp when i was expected to attend an assessment miles away by public transport, 3 days after quite dreadful surgery on both eyes, i was taken by ambulance to A/E with a suspected heart attack… all down to the added stress and anxiety of the assessment ontop of surgery and a horrific reaction to the anaesthetic and surgery itself.
People seem to have no idea, nor do they seem to care, quite possibly as it does not affect them, as to the horrors that many sick and disabled people are put through. and then there is austerity, that disproportionately affects the sick and disabled more than any other group of peole and one has to wonder why.
So thank tories, for making my life, and the lives of hundreds of thousands others, an abject misery for the last 7 years and the prospect of another 6 years to come. What we have done to dererve this spiteful devise treatment from a government, whom i was always led to believe would look after those most vulnerable, is far and above my reasoning and it has to stop before any more lives are lost.
Jan XH
August 19, 2017 at 1:10 pm
[…] https://peterreynolds.wordpress.com/2017/08/06/has-there-ever-been-a-worse-uk-government-than-this/ […]
My Resignation From The Conservative Party. | Peter Reynolds
August 31, 2017 at 10:23 am
I came across you site more or less randomly, expecting the usual frothing at the brain and was pleasantly surprised to find that rare, and I previously thought extinct breed, a Tory with brains and integrity.
Thank you for an hour of interesting and insightful reading.
Clive
September 1, 2017 at 12:47 am
Why renew membership when you sound like a perfect fit for Corbyn’s labour party. Join us and help.gight this incompetent government.
oldandgrumpy
September 1, 2017 at 6:53 am
You are joking! There is nothing that would make me support the delusional idea of socialism.
Anyway, I’m not renewing my membership. after Mrs May’s announcement that she intends to carry on, I have resigned: https://peterreynolds.wordpress.com/2017/08/31/my-resignation-from-the-conservative-party/
Peter Reynolds
September 1, 2017 at 9:07 am
I am a member of the Labour Party and my family are longterm members. As such I will have different beliefs to you but reading this we also share some similarities and I am relived that members of the Consevative party are recognising how disastrous the present Government is if it was not for its friends in the media and the lies that are pedalled they would not be in power. I believe those who lie in office should be persecuted and those owners of media outlets that publish lies should be stripped of their assets and closed down.You have made some good points and I agree the Tories are not showing leadership and are reposnsible for a lot of the problems this country faces. For me though you have missed out the most important area Education! Everything begins, develops and ends with education . The Tories have dismantled the education system; devalued and undermined the respect and quality of the proffesion , introduced a new National Curriculum and assessment system that has more in common with the 18 hundreds than 2017 let alone 2031 that teachers will be preparing this Septembers intake for. The massive changes have all been carried out ignoring decades of academic research! Then there are the cuts and the botched fair funding review. Anyone in education will tell you invest early saves money later! Many areas of society are struggling or indeed failing under the weight of numbers and the horrific cuts. The NHS, Benefits, Social Service, Crime etc are all in disarray and now require billions of extra funding. Yet invest in high quality staff, with academically researched approaches and many of the above areas will see long term and lasting savings for the future. Invest now and save in the future but also build a bettter and appropriately skilled workforce that is motivated and able to improve the country.
Matthew
September 1, 2017 at 8:01 am
I couldn’t agree more with many of your points Peter. And I’m a Corbyn supporter.
The problem with the current insipid tory lot is they arrogantly assume the Labour surge is because Corbyn bribed students with sweeties when in actuality they lost the under 45s vote due to complacency & it’s never likely to return. Business people like me should be incentivised & juiced up to vote but May’s vision is crony capitalist, bereft of ideas & regressive. The brand is toxic & weak.
Thomas Colton
September 1, 2017 at 10:54 am
Reblogged this on dainagregory.
dainagregory
September 1, 2017 at 12:36 pm
[…] Source: Has There Ever Been A Worse UK Government Than This? […]
Has There Ever Been A Worse UK Government Than This? | dainagregory
September 1, 2017 at 12:36 pm
Reblogged this on Sector39 permaculture.
misterjones2u
September 1, 2017 at 2:46 pm
Just look at that expensive crystal cut glass to serve and drink their special spring water from. And, those cute little wooden blocks (hand crafted are they in oak from a salvaged Elizabethan galleon – just surmising of course?) to hold their pens and pencils tidily. Golly Gosh! do us plebs pay for that extravagance through our taxes?
oldwaif
September 1, 2017 at 4:50 pm
Great read, but you should really be voting for Corbyn – you seem to agree on the fundamentals and lifelong support of one party doesn’t lead to the change you want v
Sean Spence
September 1, 2017 at 8:13 pm
Member of the Labour Party here and JC supporter, who was alive when Macmillan was in power – and wouldn’t he just turn in his grave if he could see what the Conservative Party has come to!! We have a “government” run by an intellectually vaccuous bunch of chimps drawn mostly from the ranks of merchant bankers, corporate lawyers and PR firms – .What I find particularly disturbing about them is that they do not realise that in their headlong doctrinaire rush to test their one dimensional “privatisation of everything policy”, they are destroying lives, the fabric and ultimately the future of our society. Their reorganisation of the welfare system is particularly unpleasant, victimising as it does the poor the disabled and the dispossessed – that would certainly have disturbed Macmillan and despite her disavowal as a One Nation Tory, I don’t think Thatcher would have been impressed either. They are a rabidly doctrinaire generation of politicians without a shred of wisdom between them.
I also wanted to congratulate you on a real tour de force of a resignation letter and the above spot on analysis. I found it difficult to follow the finer points in your discussion above about what constitutes Conservatism, but I think the current lot owe more to Hobbes “war of all against all” (yep that primitive), than anything else. iI you can shrug off the notion that Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party, (and you said some nice things about him), is really not about a centralised command economy (Blair got rid of clause 4 don’t forget and there is no talk of bringing it back), I can’t see that you are in political philosophy terms that far removed from what is contained within the Labour manifesto, agreeing (rather surprisingly) as you do to nationalisation of rail etc etc. I would argue that Labour is smack bang in the centre of the European social democratic political spectrum. Come and join the Labour Party – you’re Welsh for goodness sakes – you know it makes sense 🙂
John Oates
September 1, 2017 at 8:32 pm
so you are going to betray my nationality, I am British, I was born in the United Kingdom, I pay my taxes to the British government, but because I live in Northern Ireland you would surrender me to the sovereignty of a foreign power without even asking me or respecting the current mandate of the union to remain under the Belfast agreement which was ratified by an overwhelming majority of people on this island both north and south, you sir are an apologist for anti democracy and you do not deserve to be even considered to be a democrat, as a totalitarian you make the grade, ignore the public will at your peril because although you may have an opinion about the constitutional future of Northern Ireland, you conveniently neglect the fact that the majority of British subjects living here wish to remain within the United Kingdom despite your protestations to the contrary,
mark
September 1, 2017 at 9:13 pm
I’m really encouraged. I am a social democrat, I believe in membership of the Eu and I can get behind a lot of current labour policies. But, Peter, if you are representative of a significant tranche of the Conservative Party, then I don’t believe this nation is as divided as much of the media believe. I don’t agree with everything, but there is significant common ground.
Sean Gilbert
September 1, 2017 at 9:27 pm
David Cameron has delivered on your ” small government, free markets”. You have detailed some of the results of this above
Rosemary Sabel
September 1, 2017 at 10:12 pm
“The membership is old and dying. If we don’t get a grip within five years we will be gone forever.”
We live in hope! Funny isn’t it – how tory hubris told us that Labour were going to die at the last general election. Not while they have the courage to offer people a better future they won’t eh?
Tim Spencer (@timspencer1)
September 2, 2017 at 1:31 am
Reblogged this on circusbuoy.
tomiejones
September 2, 2017 at 9:16 am
Stunned. Truly stunned, from a Tory. There is much thinking to applaud here, Sir. @duncanpoundcake
duncanpoundcake
September 2, 2017 at 1:00 pm
Dear Peter, as a socialist (in the extreme) I see a person in you that we have not seen in the tory party for decades. A man who cares for the “common” member of society. I appreciate your views and respect your opinions. As the conservative party of today has become more extremely right wing, there will be a natural swing to the left as the working classes are alienated and marginialized by those they elect to govern them. The appalling blair, cameron and now may (I deliberately do not capitalise their names) have done more to damage democracy, fairness, freedom and as such society than anyone since (my opinion) Margaret Thatcher. We are
paid less and suffer more than in any time since the 1940’s.
There must be a real alternative to this and as a democrat I feel we need to have a vocal conservative party that see’s this and has the courage to act on behalf of the people and not despite them. To challenge the vested interests and propose good alternatives that benefit us all.
I applaud your statement of resignation and wish you the very best. Who knows you may have many views that chime with the left and you do most certainly have those that are in concert with the people.
Kind regards
G V Thomas
Gwyn Thomas
September 2, 2017 at 1:37 pm
Wow… A Tory that sees the truth of the current leadership vacuum that exists in the UK today. As a Labour Party member and a lifelong socialist I look at the weak and mealy mouthed leadership of both parties a yearn for the days of Kinnock VS Thatcher and Major VS Blair. Regardless of your political persuasion there was a feeling that there was at least some intellectual and strategic thinking behind their politics.
I search the front benches of the Labour Party in Parliament and find myself shaking my head at the ineptitude of those sitting there. I see no future leader of our great reformist party on those benches which commits us to many years of Tory government. I look across at the Tory front benches and see only a more articulate version of ineptitude of the Labour front bench. The only exception is Boris who acts the buffoon but is actually a very competent politician. Sadly he is the only front bench minister of either party that has Prime Ministerial qualities.
In all of my 59 years I have never seen such a paucity of talent in Westminster.
John Stephenson
September 2, 2017 at 5:29 pm
paranoid delusions. See a doctor.
Mark Frankie Richardson
September 3, 2017 at 1:21 am
Well now there is an intelligent and cogent response to a legitimate point of view! Why would you waste your time stretching your only brain cell to the limit on such a pathetically inept response? Please go back to reading your Sun newspaper… It is consistent with your intellect.
John Stephenson
September 5, 2017 at 4:54 am
Thank you for introducing me to a wholly new experience – agreeing completely with a Conservative. Better still, your points were made with such aplomb, grace and good humour that nearly fell off the sofa laughing at parts of it. 🙂
David
September 2, 2017 at 7:22 pm
This doesn’t go far enough. The tories have used the idea of austerity to cut vital lines of support and dignity from the most vulnerable in society and are punishing the public sector workers who are the life blood of the country. Most teachers and nurses just want to do their job but are demonised. Selling off the NHS is an utter disaster and never have I felt so awful about being British.
Karen
September 2, 2017 at 8:41 pm
I’m a committed Lib Democrat and staunch remainder. I found myself in the strange position of agreeing with a staunch leaver in much of Peter’s description and analysis of the current situation. Most particularly I have been protesting at the fools gold and dreadful injustice of spiralling house prices for a full 15 years. It is extraordinary to me that someone who speaks or writes so much sense should be a Brexiteer. I have been challenging such folk for over a year to give me good solid reasons for leaving that are more than just the empty slogans of the tabloids. I think that if anyone can, it is Peter. Your floor Peter.
David Glover
September 2, 2017 at 10:54 pm
Small government is not an evidence based policy. That’s your first error, among many.
Mark Frankie Richardson
September 3, 2017 at 1:20 am
edit:
I spoke too soon. I agree with most of it.
However, small government is not an evidence based policy. Judging by the fact that the UK is in the mess that it is in as a direct result of 40 years of attempts at small government, and that I’m not aware of any evidence that small government has ever worked, I would reconsidered that a desire for small government and a desire for evidence based policy are not compatible.
Mark Frankie Richardson
September 3, 2017 at 1:28 am
Are you unable to read an article of more than a hundred words all the through? Return to your copy of the Sun newspaper, the articles are less challenging for you.
John Stephenson
September 5, 2017 at 4:57 am
I’m a Labour party member and there’s very little here that I disagree with you on. I think you’d be hard pressed to find many members of our party that would disagree with you on any of this. Come and join us.
Mark Frankie Richardson
September 3, 2017 at 1:34 am
Please join another party.
John Stephenson
September 5, 2017 at 4:58 am
Reblogged this on Naturalian's Blog and commented:
I totally agree,what a shambolic useless twerps we have as our “government”
naturalian
September 3, 2017 at 5:48 am