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Another Tory party conference draws to a close and perhaps a good time to reflect on the beast which is Conservatism. As the economy falters, delegates, cabinet ministers and party leader alike have all resorted back to type, which is gratifying because at least it is honest. There is nothing more sickening than a Tory trying to convince us that he is in favour of big society when what he really wants is a country with strong defences to protect the privileged few who will benefit from the stream of elitist measures we can expect to see in the future. They are a paranoid lot on the whole, the Tories, and think the whole world is against them. They want to reduce the influence of Europe on their affairs, as if that was a bad thing, they have vetoed plans for a European military headquarters, they plan to raise the barriers against an influx of more mad foreigners, and are reopening embassies abroad to keep tabs on the big bad world. No budget is too big when it comes to stiffening our defences against the Frog and the Dago!
What a sorry display of retrogressive colonialism. Hague even suggested we revitalize that great institution, the Commonwealth. Why don't they bring back slavery while they're about it? They are still singing to the tune of Rule Britannia, when the fact is that unless Britain learns to get on with its neighbours in a far less patronizing way, it will become even more sidelined in the power games of the future than it is now. Will the USA, assuming it recovers its authority, really prefer to negotiate with an isolated UK rather than a unified Eurozone? Will the growing influence of Russia and China give a hoot about the Commonwealth? The sort of jingoism we heard this week from the Tories only gets up people's noses and turns the UK into a joke abroad.
And where do their partners in government fit in to all this? It seems any pretence of kowtowing to the Liberal Democrats has finally been abandoned. How will the Libdems feel about ditching the Human Rights Act, for example, as proposed by Theresa May? The cracks that were starting to show before will surely widen to threaten the entire edifice in the wake of this conference. All this shows what a mistake it was for such two unsuitable partners to get into bed together in the first place. This torn coalition is weakening further the recovery which was already beginning under Labour. With growth barely happening at all (revised down to 0.1% in the second quarter) they had better start focusing on the important issues of jobs and housing before bothering about diplomatic havens abroad for their pals.
Milton Johanides is a retired businessman, church elder, writer and artist. He has been featured on BBC TVs Songs of Praise, owned numerous art galleries and once ran an award winning picture framing business in Scotland. The views expressed in these articles are his own.
email: miltonjohanides@yahoo.co.uk
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