The British Conservative Party

I had a look at the Conservative Party's website the other day.

A couple of things struck me. Firstly, they have the reports (in PDF format) of the various policy groups they set up to study issues and suggest policies. These reports are really thoughtful and forward-thinking, and worth reading IMO. Secondly, alongside these reports there are discussion areas, in which site visitors can say what they think about the proposed policies.

There is a HUGE gap between the policies suggested by the policy groups and the reaction to them by the site visitors. The policy group reports look more like something one would expect from the Lib Dems, while the comments look as if they come from the sort of people who join UKIP (climate change isn't caused by humans, foreign aid is a waste of money, Islam is a dangerous religion etc.).

I'm depressed now, because I feel there are serious problems that need tackling ASAP, but I don't feel there's anywhere near enough public support for the policies that will be necessary. Also, it seems as if public opinion in this country is still very conservative. I'm not talking about the Tory party website now, but the country as a whole.

The public opinion in the UK is conservative because so many people have opted out of the political debate. All you hear now is 'politics is boring' or 'politics don't matter, all the parties are the same', etc. On the other hand, a significant amount people who still see politics as useful are those with an axe to grind.

Sadly, with much of the general public having abdicated their responsibilty, the situation is such that it is these people who decide you gets into power. Politics is a form of selling, you are sell to win, and since it is more difficult to sell to those you don't want to buy, you end creating special deals for those who want to buy.

The conservative strain therefore feels stronger than it is really is in general public.

I think the tax situation sums it up, both the main parties are constantly on about reducing taxes but they are only reducing the taxes for the middle class - if they cared about the masses, rather than helping the (semi)wealthy with inheritance tax they could have promised to restructure or scrap the Community Charge which is the unfairest tax in the country.

#3

I agree to some extent with jargoneer.

As regards the reports, well, it would arguably be a better world if people were influenced by such things, but as George Bernard Shaw once commented, people don`t make heroes out of civil servants and political researchers.

I would not necessarily assume that the comments posted on the site are typical of public opinion generally, any more than I would pay much heed to the opinion of those who attend party conferences (of whatever party).

My initial thought is that the sort of person who a) logs on to a party`s site, b) reads reports of the type you describe and c) posts a response is very unlikely to be typical of the man in the street. The other thing we don`t know is how much response has been orchestrated.

As regards the substance of the responses - well, I don`t think many people in the UK would seriously argue that there`s no element of human responsibility for climate change. My understanding is that there is cyclical `natural` climate change and that human activity has exacerbated this. Personally, I think people should be conscious of their impact on the environment regardless of the climate change issue.

Foreign aid. That`s a very difficult one. A lot of official aid is flawed (food aid delivered at the start of the harvest season is the well-known recent example of `bad aid`). Even in the non-official sector, there have been some worrying issues arising - a number of agencies have now conceded that their activities in sub-Saharan africa have been ill-conceived. Tempting though it is to applaud their new-found honesty, they have to put that right if they want to win back people`s trust. I believe that organisations like Oxfam should revisit their `Campaign for Real Aid` of the `80s. I personally believe it was only a combination of moral cowardice combined with self-interest that made them drop that aspect of their work, but as they claim to have put their house in order now, this is their chance to prove it.

As regards individuals who are basically opposed to all aid per se, well some people can never be won over. It remains to be seen who they can actually influence.

Islamaphobia. My own feeling is that people in the UK are probably more tolerant than they`re given credit for. Given the cirumstances, I would have expected more anti-Islamic sentiment to be around - not that I would agree with it, but I was expecting things to be worse in that respect. When you consider the race riots of the past, I can`t think of a single comparable disorder sparked by this issue. There was an interesting thread in the P & C group started by Doug1943 on this issue some time ago, you might like to have a look.

You have to recall that religious intolerance arises under certain circumstances. When I was younger, anti-Catholic prejudice was not unknown - even recently, I heard a friend of mine mention a particular public house`s reputation as a stronghold of anti-Catholic prejudice. I doubt that`s now true, but that reputation didn`t come from nowhere.

All in all, I think we can be cautiously optimistic that we don`t actually live in a country of rabid reactionaries.

Perhaps I should keep my head down and stay quiet but here goes:
Regarding jargoneer's (#2) comment about taxes I suppose they are reducing taxes for the middle class because they are the ones most burdened and possibly feel they are subsidising people who could work but don't. An important perception even if not backed up by facts. As a pensioner I agree about the Council Tax/Community Charge being unfair. One anecdotal aspect is that my mother lives in Canterbury and many houses in her street have been bought by people who let to students. Council tax is zero on such a property!

My initial thought is that the sort of person who a) logs on to a party`s site, b) reads reports of the type you describe and c) posts a response is very unlikely to be typical of the man in the street. A lot of people I know don't even read a newspaper. And I have to say I hardly ever visit party sites. So the views expressed there must be different from those down the local.

Personally, I think people should be conscious of their impact on the environment regardless of the climate change issue. I believe that's true but "greeness" seems to be the new bandwagon that everyone is jumping on, not least Tesco. People get a little cynical. And when the BBC reported a couple of days ago on the environmental effects on Slimbridge Wildfowl Centre of the (proposed) Severn Barrage my response was "to hell with the bloody geese!".

Foreign Aid: Labour has poured billions into education and health (Gordon Brown according to latest reports intends to give even more but surreptitiously increase Council Tax.) That money has done nothing. Some reports suggest that money/services given by wealthy individuals such as Ann Gloag often achieves much more because they they are much better at following up how it used than government agencies.

Islamophobia: Well I say this very much tongue-in-cheek but I was telling my wife tonight as we watched the news about two teenagers (eldest 15, the other, I think, 14) who kicked a disabled man to death. Before dying he managed to get on a bus and told a witness that he didn't carry his white stick (for the blind) because it attracted trouble. The two boasted of their deed. The judge thought it was bad parenting/upbringing although it seems some are offended that he should say so. My wife said she thought Sharia Law might be just what the country needs. I don't think much of Sharia but as long as our country is run by social workers it might not be a bad idea to replace them by people who believe something.

And as for anti-Catholic prejudice I remember my grandmother in a small Lancashire mill town saying "David, we're chapel people not church". Anti-CofE prejudice!. Reading some newspapers/magazines I now, many years later, find that many of my best-liked writers are Roman Catholic.

nickhoonaloon — perhaps after this rant you feel like changing your last sentence.

#4

"perhaps after this rant..."

Not at all. It`d be a poor world if we only talked when we agreed.

Nick