After My Sabbatical

A couple of weeks ago, explaining my temporary absence from the Conservative Party, I said I was looking for hope by re-reading Roger Scruton’s “How to be a Conservative.”  I noted that Scruton points out that one of the disadvantages of being a Conservative is that, in terms of public opinion, our message is true but boring.  Our assets as a society: “peace, freedom, law, civility, public spirit, the security of property and family life,” have been painstakingly established but are vulnerable to being swept away on populist tides whose message is exciting but false.  “The work of destruction is quick, easy and exhilarating; the work of creation slow, laborious and dull.”  I suggested that, far from some sort of radical reinvention, now, arguably more than ever, Conservatives must hold true to their roots and continuously defend what we have gained in the past and show how we should hold on to it in the future.

As the post mortems of the disastrous election campaign continue there is no shortage of respected comment on where things went wrong.  However, whilst there is a danger in knee jerk reactions to “lessons learned,” there is an even greater danger in reacting to the wrong conclusions.  When I worked for Serco (before the fall) there was a natural obsession in that company for squeezing the most out of performance.  The science of measuring performance was critical.  However, it was always emphasised that it was vital to measure the right thing.  Just because something could be measured did not make it a valid indicator of performance.  And most importantly, how do we assess performance when there is nothing obvious that is measurable?

It seems the Conservative Party faces a similar dilemma and, far from rebuilding from its solid foundations, is in danger of jumping to unjustified conclusions on policy, lurching this way and that in attempt to steal clothes and popular votes.

Thinking of what sort of Conservative Party I should find, following the conclusion of my sabbatical, I was greatly uplifted by the thoughts of Rod Liddle in this week’s Spectator. I’ll quote his paragraph in full:

“Imagine a Tory party which reduced immigration and deported murderous asylum seekers who had been convicted by our courts.  A party which was genuinely tough on crime (it is the poorest who suffer from the depredations of crime the most).  A party that stuck up for Christians because we are a Christian country. A party which hammered welfare fraud and tax fraud and made no apology for doing so?  A party which scrapped university tuition fees – but which cut the number of places by 50%, minimum, and introduced more apprenticeships, vocational training, and the like.  That stuff would strike a chord with what we used to call Middle England.”

Unfortunately, Rod Lidddle doesn’t think it’s very likely either.  I may need to extend my sabbatical!