Struggling to have a core set of values and credible vision seems to be something affecting parties on the right around the world as they pivot between managralism and populism (leaving things like planning reform just sitting on the wayside).
While it is possible for a party to win government by just waiting out political cycles, it is obviously better to try and actually build a plan for tackling problems (and in the case that the party IS the government, the cycle doesn't seem likely to go their way).
I cannot see why you have such faith in the Tory party Tom, clinging on to it in the hope that it will become more like what you want it to be when it has been heading in the opposite direction since it entered government and the one single attempt at turning the ship around was met with such opposition that it is just not going to happen for a generation.
I am sorry but we just cannot wait for a generation for the Tory party to get its act together and even if it does that does absolutely nothing to address the perverted and rotten underlying system that is our Parliamentary so-called "democracy".
You are bright enough and embedded enough to know that the civil service drive policy and that if parliamentarians attempt to change policy to one that is disliked then they will throw a spanner in the works; conversely they will disguise failed policies that they support such as promoting so-called "active travel" and "smart" motorways. This will be the case whether we have Tories, Labour, or even Reform.
The system is broken Tom and no amount of change within any of the political parties will make any difference whatsoever. It is the same even at local levels: If they are looking to increase council tax then the say they will cut support for Libraries and Community groups. They never say they will axe speed camera partnerships do they? The current system is far too easily manipulated and too bloated; the state is morbidly obese.
As for the markets; we should no more have the markets controlling our policy than we should the civil service, and yet that is exactly what we have now. Markets that are so embedded in government that they support higher taxes.
My car battery has one red terminal on it and one blue one. One of the terminals is ever so slightly bigger than the other, albeit this is hardly noticeable, but It is the same battery and provides exactly the same power regardless as to which terminal you prefer.
I enjoyed this piece and think you are dead on.
Struggling to have a core set of values and credible vision seems to be something affecting parties on the right around the world as they pivot between managralism and populism (leaving things like planning reform just sitting on the wayside).
While it is possible for a party to win government by just waiting out political cycles, it is obviously better to try and actually build a plan for tackling problems (and in the case that the party IS the government, the cycle doesn't seem likely to go their way).
I cannot see why you have such faith in the Tory party Tom, clinging on to it in the hope that it will become more like what you want it to be when it has been heading in the opposite direction since it entered government and the one single attempt at turning the ship around was met with such opposition that it is just not going to happen for a generation.
I am sorry but we just cannot wait for a generation for the Tory party to get its act together and even if it does that does absolutely nothing to address the perverted and rotten underlying system that is our Parliamentary so-called "democracy".
You are bright enough and embedded enough to know that the civil service drive policy and that if parliamentarians attempt to change policy to one that is disliked then they will throw a spanner in the works; conversely they will disguise failed policies that they support such as promoting so-called "active travel" and "smart" motorways. This will be the case whether we have Tories, Labour, or even Reform.
The system is broken Tom and no amount of change within any of the political parties will make any difference whatsoever. It is the same even at local levels: If they are looking to increase council tax then the say they will cut support for Libraries and Community groups. They never say they will axe speed camera partnerships do they? The current system is far too easily manipulated and too bloated; the state is morbidly obese.
As for the markets; we should no more have the markets controlling our policy than we should the civil service, and yet that is exactly what we have now. Markets that are so embedded in government that they support higher taxes.
My car battery has one red terminal on it and one blue one. One of the terminals is ever so slightly bigger than the other, albeit this is hardly noticeable, but It is the same battery and provides exactly the same power regardless as to which terminal you prefer.