What just happened? The death throes of Conservatism

By TruePublica Editor: The United Kingdom, a country once touted as a confident pillar of Western economic and political stability is committing an act of self-immolation in front of an international audience. These are the death throes of Conservatism.

Conservatism is a political and social philosophy promoting traditional social institutions in the context of culture and civilization. The central tenets of conservatism include tradition, organic society, hierarchy, authority, and property rights. Recognise any of that?

Economic, political, constitutional chaos is now the order of the day.

There are some new behavioural traits of the governing party never seen before.

For instance, Nicholas Soames, the grandson of Britain’s World War Two leader Winston Churchill, will be expelled (sacked) (thrown out) from the Conservative Party after voting against his Prime Minister on an ideology based around Europe. He was first elected to Parliament in 1983.

 

Twenty one Tory MP’s have just been sacked, one defected to the LibDems before being pushed.

Sam Gyimah, a Tory who has served as the Member of Parliament for East Surrey since the 2010 general election has just stated that since having the whip withdrawn – so have their passes.

David Gauke, Richard Benyon, Greg Clark, Justine Greening, Philip Hammond and the other big hitters – Letwin, Grieve, Stewart along with grandees such as Ken Clarke and Sir Nicolas Soames have, on principle, made a sacrifice. You might not think it is much of one, but throwing in the match that starts the fire that ends it all is big.

There were roars of laughter in the House last night as the prime Minster says – “this country stands for democracy and the rule of law.”

Here, standing before the world is a man whose career path is littered with jettisoned jobs, relationships and finally even basic democratic principles – simply for a seat at the top. The national interest is not important to the Jihadists of Brexit. The subsequent purge was not a pleasant sight.

And then there was the request to prorogue parliament – itself an instrument used only once in the last 70 years as a tool to deflect a scandal (cash-for-questions) that helped bring the Tories down last time. The Queen has not come out well.

As one former ambassador puts it – the monarch has appointed our UK Prime Minister. The convention is that this must be the person who can command the support of the majority in the House of Commons. That does not necessarily have to be from a single party, it can be via a coalition or pact with other parties, but the essential point, established since Hanoverian times, is that the individual must have a majority in the Commons. The monarchy has been active and absolutely central to the seizure of power from the Westminster parliament in a right wing coup.”

Boris Johnson was elected by just 90,000 members of the Conservatives party. He has won nothing electorally. His first significant test in command, was, as expected, a humiliating defeat. In the house of representatives (the Commons) Johnson is unsupported by any majority and this is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a qualification for becoming a Prime Minister.

This alone has put the question of the monarchy back on the table. The very appointment of Boris Johnson, by the Queen, was seen by many as a constitutional outrage (be it right or wrong is irrelevant).

Johnson may have been selected by Conservative Party members, but in reality, most of parliament is against him (about 75%) and so is most of the country (depending on which polls you read).

To force open this crisis, Johnson has threatened an election – an act of blackmail, that has seemingly backfired. The election will be fought on a no-deal Brexit chalked in for 31st October or a second referendum, possibly with an option to revoke Article 50. This will be an election fought out tactically by the electorate. Tribes will be more tribal than ever. Both results will end in increased frustration, anger and quite possibly outright animosity. Civil society is now being torn limb from limb.

When Soames was asked if this was the end of the Conservative Party his grandfather would have known, he said: “No. But it’s a bad night, but It is a pity – a great pity – that this has in my view all been planned: this is exactly what they wanted and they will try to have a general election which is what they wanted.” Soames is saying that the plan all along was an approach of chaos to get what they really want – an exit, no matter what it all costs. That alone is quite extraordinary. It is a statement that the Tory party will now sacrifice the country for an unproven ideology that the majority do not believe in.

Currently, the UK has no exit plan from the biggest trading bloc in the world. It cannot agree on what to do with Northern Ireland – that has already sparked violence. On this trajectory, The Troubles’ will return. The UK has been blocked by so-called partner states from joining the WTO – as the UK’s terms were unacceptable. The Army is on standby. Army reservists have been called up. All police leave is cancelled and the entire security services architecture is in full-blown crisis mode in readiness for 31st October. The warnings of impending economic disaster litter the headlines.

This confident pillar of Western economic and political stability has been abandoned by its own guardians. It’s gone – and with it so has moderate conservatism. Heath and Thatcher will be turning in their graves. Major is incandescent with anger. Cameron is in hiding. May is smirking as one would expect. All have paid the price for their beliefs over membership of Europe.

What is left of Conservatism is now a fundamentalist creed filled with the far-right faithful. It is a religion based on hatred, power and lust. What comes next will be just as ugly. By the end of next week, the starting gun for open warfare will have been fired. Right-minded people are horrified at this unedifying spectacle and quite rightly so as it’s only going to get worse.

 

 

---