It’s perfectly natural that David Cameron is suffering from defections, but why on earth are they coming from the right wing of his party? This government is cutting and selling off everything in sight. This should indulge the fantasies of every economic right-winger. They should all be staring moist-eyed at the television saying, ‘It’s happening, it’s really happening. I never thought I would live to see the day.’ But they’re not. They’re getting on the phone to Farage.
It defies the laws of political gravity that the Tories, while continuing their firmly right-wing agenda, should then suffer defections from its own right wing. Given this government’s political direction, the exodus should really be coming from its moderate left. These kind-hearted patriarchs should be saying to the Tory leadership, ‘Hang on a minute chaps, this is just not on, what?’ But where are they?
When Labour moved leftwards in the early 80s, it was the right wing of the Labour party that defected and formed the SDP. That’s the way it should be - when a party moves one way, those at the opposite end get itchy feet. The political river appears to be running uphill at the moment because this is an unusual time for the parties closest to the Tories. There are normally options to the left of the Tories but not the right. At the moment it is the other way round.
For the first time ever there is something credible - at least, electorally credible - to the right of the Tories. Despite there being almost no room on that side, UKIP have squeezed their clapped-out Bentley into the space. They have managed this by focussing on other subjects - Europe and immigration - and been vague and incoherent about bigger issues. When asked about tax and spending, Farage orders another pint, unveils another ex-Tory MP, and everybody cheers.
So why is no one jumping off the Tory ship to the left? Because there is no seaworthy vessel within leaping distance. Who in their right mind would join the Lib Dems at the moment? The sole purpose of the Lib Dems over the past four and a half years has been to make Tory dreams come true. A Tory joining the LibDems would look like a spy sent from head office to keep a closer eye on an under-performing branch.
If a Tory joined the Lib Dems, it would be assumed that they were a pro-European (or just suicidal). It must be tricky being a pro-European Tory, much like being a Jehovah’s Witness haematologist. Eventually something has to give. Any Tory MPs leaving the party now because it is too right wing wouldn’t join the Lib Dems. They’d probably just stay quiet, stick around til the election, then find themselves something more lucrative to do with their time.
The only examples of a left-wing Tory defecting to the Lib Dems come from the last days of the John Major government. Major’s government was gaining a sleazy reputation. Desertion had a nice mix of high and low motives - Major had lost moral authority, so could no longer be supported by decent people. Or anyone, really, decent or otherwise. As a career move, it was a handy moment to stop being a Tory.
It is strange, then, that there were so few defectors under Thatcher - just the one Tory MP who joined 28 Labour MPs in forming the SDP’s Commons presence in 1981. The Tories were tacking hard to the right every bit as much as Labour to the left in the early 80s. But the parliamentary drama only drew attention to Labour’s abandonment of the centre ground - the Tories’ lurch hardly lost them anyone. They were having too much fun winning elections, drinking champagne, wearing striped shirts, and carrying around enormous mobile phones to notice that part of their party’s identity was being discarded.
Strength of leadership is clearly the issue here. People defect from weak leaders and towards strong ones. Partly they are preserving their careers. But it can be a principled move as well. You can leave your party because you think poor leadership would be bad for the country, as well as your personal electoral ambitions.
Maybe, in the Thatcher years, the one-nation Tories on the party’s left were just being patient, and thought the pendulum would swing back their way once she was gone. The problem is, it took her so long to go, and by the time she went she’d changed everything.
She also created a generation of new Tories - and that’s what stands behind the bizarre rightwards exits from an already right-steering party we are seeing now. Tories elected to the House of Commons over the last couple of general elections came of age under Thatcher. Anyone aged 42-57 turned 18 during Thatcher’s party leadership. This was a period where right-wing views were strong, brave, and proud, and the left-wing was weak, wet, and disloyal. Ever further right-wing opinions were lionised, like an escalating drinking game.
And that is where this generation of right-wing Tory candidates comes from. They have never encountered a right-wing opinion they didn’t admire. They know how to play a Tory selection committee, and say the right things about Europe, to get the job. But what they really crave in politics is Thatcherism to the nth degree.
So when a strong, charismatic leader comes along and trumps even David Cameron in terms of right-wing purity, no wonder they are tempted. When asked her greatest achievement, Thatcher said ‘Tony Blair and New Labour’. To that list she can now certainly add Cameron’s current Tories, and UKIP.
Why is a right-veering Tory party losing people to the right? Because of the kind of people we’re dealing with. Tory MPs last year proposed what they called an “Alternative Queen’s Speech”. Their suggestions included bringing back national service and the death penalty, privatising the BBC, and renaming the August bank holiday ‘Margaret Thatcher Day’. That’s what we’re dealing with here. That’s why the parliamentary Tory party is behaving in such an eccentric way. It is nuts.
The bank holiday policy seems unnecessary, though. Surely to people like this, every day is Margaret Thatcher Day.
No comments:
Post a Comment