You are of course right. Matters aren’t helped by the fact that Boris Johnson sacked any Tory of any talent from his front bench because they weren’t Brexiteers. A similar phenomenon also played out on Labour’s side - the reason why most of the current cabinet are so uninspiring is that they were prepared to sit it out under Corbyn; hardly an affidavit of originality of thought or political courage. So I’m afraid you’ll have to step up to the plate and become the new Scruton to the next generation of Tories to have even a chance of government. Most of the current lot are still hopelessly in denial as to the causes of their recent eviction from power and are lobby-fodder at best. Maybe they should skip a generation (or two) as I was very struck by your recent point that for the Conservatives to have a future, the 30-somethings have to be given a reason to want to conserve a society which actively militates against their interests in so many respects. La lotta continua!
Profound as ever, David. I listened to several long podcast interviews with some of these figures, such as Kevin Roberts, who runs the Heritage Foundation and was struck by not only the content but the tone. These are serious people who have thought hard about America and its predicament, forming a clear plan what to do, which is coherent and convincing. They are also not messing around, grimly determined to shift the American right away from being slower progressivism and will not be deterred by legacy media whining about it. Sadly, I see no one of this seriousness in either Reform or the Conservatives. The IEA and other once serious think tanks have been assimilated to the blob. Insight into Britain’s remedy to its predicament lies with you and Stacks like this one. I fear it will take more than one term of Labour for the British right to realise.
I think it derives from how the USA came about, and the extraordinary zeal of the Founding Fathers to get it right. At its best - as we seem to be witnessing at the moment - the same zeal comes into play. And it's a fine thing to observe.
Whether we can emulate that, with our different origin, and out now profound malaise and, I think, our civilisational tiredness, is another matter. We may have to fall much further before we rise again
I completely agree, David. (And it is noteworthy that the last successful Conservative government, that of Margaret Thatcher, was preceded by just this kind of reflection and thought about what the party stood for.)
Looking at the Right in British politics today, I see no evidence of the Conservatives even beginning to grasp what is needed. Instead they seem to think that if they just wait, Labour will implode and the country will give them back the power that is rightfully theirs.
On the other hand, Reform does seem to be different. Time will tell, but there does seem to be an understanding in that party of the task that lies ahead.
Dan Hitchens' recent article in The Critic, 'Scruton and the roots of modern conservatism', gives a flavour of the deep re-think that preceded and birthed Thatcherism. While reading it, I kept thinking to myself, this is what the Right desperately needs today. I'm not a fan of Thatcher's Gladstonian Liberalism, but mutatis mutandis.
The problem is that project took place before the internet age, when people were simply more focused and less interested in personal celebrity. So there needs to be some recognition by politicians that they need to stop worrying about social media for a while and focus on more important underlying issues.
It would be interesting to hear your views on which components of political form (as opposed to content) that UK needs to develop. You are right that UK needs a substantial practical and philosophical political wisdom if it is to survive liberal progress. That said, there is so much against it, it's hard to imagine that it can be brought about at all. Paradoxically, our best hope is the scale of the damage already done and the probable bleakness of the future. Hard times make it necessary to express what is going wrong, and to search for good enough responses, so maybe that will provoke what is needed.
What is clear is that it has to be more than electoral manifestos. We are suffering from decades of cultural neglect, deliberate in my view, and this is not something that can be fixed with taxation and public spending.
Indeed, although taxation and public spending (ie, reducing it) is part of the picture. A smaller state is necessarily conservative - so this does have to be a part of the agenda.
I so agree with this. I wrote to Professor Matt Goodwin about this (in a much more prosaic way!) a few months ago. You and he would be a brilliant team to formulate a philosophical template for Reform. I feel that Nigel Farage is a brilliant communicator, but he needs some intellectual heft behind him. When I listen to interviews with people on the right of American politics, I am amazed at the coherence of their ideas, their breadth of knowledge and sheer intelligence. Kemi Badenoch with her obsession with optics and woke, is froth in comparison, and I don't think there are any serious thinkers behind her.
Youd better help Farage and others then, with definitive things to do; because there is a vacuum which youve described here, that they will not fill without help. Alot of it. Farage for one needs to stop playing the victim to the debanking assholes and 'economists' who were really bank tellers. He needs to poke them in the eye. Hard.
I think the next GE will be within 4 years though, if this shower can last even that long. Starmer hasn't got the guts for it and will resign in 2027 imo and then there will be even worse chaos and an early election in a desperate attempt to avoid defeat.
As others have said, Conservatives don't seem to understand the problem and many of us will not want to be let down by them again.
Reform have the potential but need some serious intellectual underpinninings that could come from you David, Matt Goodwin and James Alexander. Please not Cummings though...
This is a concern I share. The frustrating thing in the last 8 years or more was the UK left aping the terminology and concerns of the American left which lead to such insane outworking as BLM protestors in the UK chanting "don't shoot" at unarmed police, the adoption of the term BIPOC (excuse me - I'm English in England but somehow I don't think that I applies to me). I welcome the wrecking ball aspect of Trump and the pricking of bubbles but for the love of God we don't need our own MAGA movement.
You are of course right. Matters aren’t helped by the fact that Boris Johnson sacked any Tory of any talent from his front bench because they weren’t Brexiteers. A similar phenomenon also played out on Labour’s side - the reason why most of the current cabinet are so uninspiring is that they were prepared to sit it out under Corbyn; hardly an affidavit of originality of thought or political courage. So I’m afraid you’ll have to step up to the plate and become the new Scruton to the next generation of Tories to have even a chance of government. Most of the current lot are still hopelessly in denial as to the causes of their recent eviction from power and are lobby-fodder at best. Maybe they should skip a generation (or two) as I was very struck by your recent point that for the Conservatives to have a future, the 30-somethings have to be given a reason to want to conserve a society which actively militates against their interests in so many respects. La lotta continua!
"... you’ll have to step up to the plate and become the new Scruton ..."
Love the suggestion.
Me too. Quite a burden. Stumbling across Sir Rog some years back made me realise that philosophically, I am a conservative. Bless him
Good points, well made!
Profound as ever, David. I listened to several long podcast interviews with some of these figures, such as Kevin Roberts, who runs the Heritage Foundation and was struck by not only the content but the tone. These are serious people who have thought hard about America and its predicament, forming a clear plan what to do, which is coherent and convincing. They are also not messing around, grimly determined to shift the American right away from being slower progressivism and will not be deterred by legacy media whining about it. Sadly, I see no one of this seriousness in either Reform or the Conservatives. The IEA and other once serious think tanks have been assimilated to the blob. Insight into Britain’s remedy to its predicament lies with you and Stacks like this one. I fear it will take more than one term of Labour for the British right to realise.
I completely agree and had exactly the same thoughts, probably listening to exactly the same podcasts!
Maybe. I do think that people like Zia Yusuf fully grasp the scale of the challenge.
I think it derives from how the USA came about, and the extraordinary zeal of the Founding Fathers to get it right. At its best - as we seem to be witnessing at the moment - the same zeal comes into play. And it's a fine thing to observe.
Whether we can emulate that, with our different origin, and out now profound malaise and, I think, our civilisational tiredness, is another matter. We may have to fall much further before we rise again
I completely agree, David. (And it is noteworthy that the last successful Conservative government, that of Margaret Thatcher, was preceded by just this kind of reflection and thought about what the party stood for.)
Looking at the Right in British politics today, I see no evidence of the Conservatives even beginning to grasp what is needed. Instead they seem to think that if they just wait, Labour will implode and the country will give them back the power that is rightfully theirs.
On the other hand, Reform does seem to be different. Time will tell, but there does seem to be an understanding in that party of the task that lies ahead.
Time will indeed tell - there really is everything to play for.
Dan Hitchens' recent article in The Critic, 'Scruton and the roots of modern conservatism', gives a flavour of the deep re-think that preceded and birthed Thatcherism. While reading it, I kept thinking to myself, this is what the Right desperately needs today. I'm not a fan of Thatcher's Gladstonian Liberalism, but mutatis mutandis.
The problem is that project took place before the internet age, when people were simply more focused and less interested in personal celebrity. So there needs to be some recognition by politicians that they need to stop worrying about social media for a while and focus on more important underlying issues.
It would be interesting to hear your views on which components of political form (as opposed to content) that UK needs to develop. You are right that UK needs a substantial practical and philosophical political wisdom if it is to survive liberal progress. That said, there is so much against it, it's hard to imagine that it can be brought about at all. Paradoxically, our best hope is the scale of the damage already done and the probable bleakness of the future. Hard times make it necessary to express what is going wrong, and to search for good enough responses, so maybe that will provoke what is needed.
What is clear is that it has to be more than electoral manifestos. We are suffering from decades of cultural neglect, deliberate in my view, and this is not something that can be fixed with taxation and public spending.
Indeed, although taxation and public spending (ie, reducing it) is part of the picture. A smaller state is necessarily conservative - so this does have to be a part of the agenda.
I so agree with this. I wrote to Professor Matt Goodwin about this (in a much more prosaic way!) a few months ago. You and he would be a brilliant team to formulate a philosophical template for Reform. I feel that Nigel Farage is a brilliant communicator, but he needs some intellectual heft behind him. When I listen to interviews with people on the right of American politics, I am amazed at the coherence of their ideas, their breadth of knowledge and sheer intelligence. Kemi Badenoch with her obsession with optics and woke, is froth in comparison, and I don't think there are any serious thinkers behind her.
This analysis is so very important, David. A dream team might include Freddy Sayers, Dan Astin-Gregory, and you. Make it happen!
Youd better help Farage and others then, with definitive things to do; because there is a vacuum which youve described here, that they will not fill without help. Alot of it. Farage for one needs to stop playing the victim to the debanking assholes and 'economists' who were really bank tellers. He needs to poke them in the eye. Hard.
He may well do if he gets serious political power.
Much to agree with here and in the comments.
I think the next GE will be within 4 years though, if this shower can last even that long. Starmer hasn't got the guts for it and will resign in 2027 imo and then there will be even worse chaos and an early election in a desperate attempt to avoid defeat.
As others have said, Conservatives don't seem to understand the problem and many of us will not want to be let down by them again.
Reform have the potential but need some serious intellectual underpinninings that could come from you David, Matt Goodwin and James Alexander. Please not Cummings though...
This is a concern I share. The frustrating thing in the last 8 years or more was the UK left aping the terminology and concerns of the American left which lead to such insane outworking as BLM protestors in the UK chanting "don't shoot" at unarmed police, the adoption of the term BIPOC (excuse me - I'm English in England but somehow I don't think that I applies to me). I welcome the wrecking ball aspect of Trump and the pricking of bubbles but for the love of God we don't need our own MAGA movement.