{"id":424,"date":"2005-04-13T10:38:00","date_gmt":"2005-04-13T10:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jcm.org.uk\/blog\/2005\/04\/13\/the-conservative-manifesto-a-somewhat-slapdash-exegesis\/"},"modified":"2005-04-13T10:38:00","modified_gmt":"2005-04-13T10:38:00","slug":"the-conservative-manifesto-a-somewhat-slapdash-exegesis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jcm.org.uk\/blog\/2005\/04\/the-conservative-manifesto-a-somewhat-slapdash-exegesis\/","title":{"rendered":"The Conservative manifesto – a somewhat slapdash exegesis"},"content":{"rendered":"

A couple of days ago Michael Howard laid out his party’s masterplan for “The British Dream”<\/a> (a particularly clunky appropriation of American political terminology).<\/p>\n

In fairness, the Conservatives have had the decency to keep their propaganda short, so for once I’ve actually managed to read the whole thing<\/a> (700kb pdf download from this link).<\/p>\n

The design brief appears to have been, “imagine being hectored by an opinionated and somewhat old-fashioned middle-aged gent over a garden fence in Surbiton”. Each policy synopsis begins with a key question setting up the Conservative Party’s plans in a manner reminiscent of William Hague’s infamous appeal to ‘common sense’<\/a>. These questions often hide ominous implications behind an innocently cartoonish scrawl – for instance, “What’s wrong with a little discipline in schools?\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd, ‘I mean, how hard is it to keep a hospital clean?’ and ‘Why ARE there so many darkies living on my road?’ (last one may not be true).<\/p>\n

The main thrust appears to be empowerment. The Tories aim to persuade voters that control has been lost in many areas of British life, and that they are the ones to restore it. “…a Conservative Government will tilt the balance of the justice system in favour of the victim… will restore control of our borders… will settle our relationship with the European Union by bringing powers back from Brussels to Britain.” (page 3). In addition, “The British people should feel confident that they can get on with their lives while their Government concentrates on tackling the practical problems which matter to them.\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd (Page 2). This is as close as the document gets to political philosophy \u00ef\u00bf\u00bd a nominal commitment to small government while not ruling out splashing money on \u00ef\u00bf\u00bdpractical problems\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd, presumably policing, national security and immigration.<\/p>\n

Economic Policy (\u00ef\u00bf\u00bdMy taxes keep going up, but what have we got to show for it?\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd), gets off to a pedestrian and unconvincing start \u00ef\u00bf\u00bd apparently Britain is in an advanced state of penury, and the only way to save it is via the perennial gambit of the opposition party: cutting back on ‘waste’. Rather optimistically, savings here are predicted to be \u00ef\u00bf\u00bd12 billion pounds by 2007-8 (Page 3), so it will, of course, be possible to reduce borrowing and lower taxes while spending more on the NHS, the police, roads, defence, pensions and education. Hmmm. \u00ef\u00bf\u00bdLower taxes promote enterprise and growth. But they also promote the right values\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd (Page 3) A rather nasty euphemism, though later promises to half council tax bills for pensioners and increase pension payments seem rather more attractive. Business will be helped through an opt-out of the EU Social Chapter with its annoying commitment to worker rights).<\/p>\n

Education (\u00ef\u00bf\u00bdWhat\u00ef\u00bf\u00bds wrong with a little discipline in schools?\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd) It\u00ef\u00bf\u00bds the Blimpish nature of those questions that get me \u00ef\u00bf\u00bd the sort of thing that could be snorted by an indignant major. In fact discipline plays little part in the manifesto beyond a promise to hand power of admissions and expulsion back to headmasters (basically a licence to bounce problem pupils around the area until they end up in a \u00ef\u00bf\u00bdspecial Turnaround School\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd (page 8). sounds like something out of The Invisibles<\/a>). Schools are also offered more independence in spending their budget, as well as greater funding – \u00ef\u00bf\u00bd15billion in 2009-10 (see above for economic scepticism).
\nInteresting suggestions with regard to the scrapping of grade targets and publishing of marks alongside grades are watered down with the vague assurance to root out \u00ef\u00bf\u00bdpolitical correctness\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd (page 9). *Sigh*. More promising is an increased commitment to vocational education. Oh and sport, which has of course been in decline over the last eight years especially in terms of Olympic performance (though interestingly, no mention of playing fields \u00ef\u00bf\u00bd wonder why?)<\/p>\n

Health (\u00ef\u00bf\u00bdI mean, how hard is it to keep a hospital clean?\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd \u00ef\u00bf\u00bd Umm, pretty hard I reckon). Ah, once again a promise to reform through slashing bureaucratic waste. Aside from a dedication to increase funding (though not by much) little else here, save a promise to pay half the costs of those who choose to have operations carried out privately (a fairly old Tory idea) and an early mention for immigrants \u00ef\u00bf\u00bd who will be screened for diseases such as TB (it\u00ef\u00bf\u00bdll be just like Godfather II). <\/p>\n

Crime (\u00ef\u00bf\u00bdPut more police on the streets and they\u00ef\u00bf\u00bdll catch more criminals it\u00ef\u00bf\u00bds not rocket science, is it? [sic]). Ah, the Conservative Party – \u00ef\u00bf\u00bdEnsuring order is the first priority of government\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd (Page 15). It\u00ef\u00bf\u00bds pretty much what might be expected of a Tory manifesto, though there is one surprise \u00ef\u00bf\u00bd \u00ef\u00bf\u00bdWe will break the link between drugs and crime by massively expanding treatment programmes, including 25,000 residential rehab places (compared with fewer than 2,500 places today), and by giving all young users of hard drugs a straight choice \u00ef\u00bf\u00bd effective treatment or appearing in court.\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd (Page 16) Harshly put, but fairly progressive. Less sensible is the bizarre insistence, brought in a while ago, on a \u00ef\u00bf\u00bdHomeland Security Minister”. What was that about cutting down on waste?<\/p>\n

Borders and Immigration (\u00ef\u00bf\u00bdIt\u00ef\u00bf\u00bds not racist to impose limits on immigration.\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd Hmm\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd isn\u00ef\u00bf\u00bdt it though?) An overblown reaction to a \u00ef\u00bf\u00bdproblem\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd that exists only in the minds of leader writers for the Daily Mail.<\/p>\n

Parliament (\u00ef\u00bf\u00bdWhy can\u00ef\u00bf\u00bdt politicians be more accountable?\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd) Tackles the West Lothian Question<\/a> head on, \u00ef\u00bf\u00bdNow that exclusively Scottish matters are decided by the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, exclusively English matters should be decided in Westminster without the votes of MPs sitting for Scottish constituencies who are not accountable to English voters.\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd (Page 22). Also promises a harder attitude to those parties in Northern Ireland linked to paramilitary organisations. A rag-tag section this, also containing plans for Local Government (largely regarding traveller encampments and \u00ef\u00bf\u00bdless interference from central government\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd), increased road building and (*groan*) a swing back to rail privatisation (\u00ef\u00bf\u00bdWe will bring stability to the rail network, avoiding further costly and inefficient re-organisation. Successful train operating companies will have their franchises extended\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd Page 22). Oh, and the hunting ban would be overturned.<\/p>\n

International Affairs (\u00ef\u00bf\u00bdObviously the world is more dangerous and we\u00ef\u00bf\u00bdve got to keep up our guard.\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd). Ooh goody, lots of war \u00ef\u00bf\u00bd a sure-fire vote-winner in the current climate. To be fair, the Conservatives offer better communication with the public over any future wars, but then look how Tony \u00ef\u00bf\u00bdFreedom of Information Act\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd Blair has handled things. My personal Occam\u00ef\u00bf\u00bds Razor<\/a> in these cases – don\u00ef\u00bf\u00bdt trust anyone who promises to boost spending on the army by nearly \u00ef\u00bf\u00bd3billion. Europe\u00ef\u00bf\u00bds only manifesto mention (aside from the Social Chapter withdrawal and some mild comments on the Commons Agricultural Policy) comes here, a vague promise of \u00ef\u00bf\u00bdreform\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd, and commitment to EU enlargement.<\/p>\n

And that, thankfully, is that. It\u00ef\u00bf\u00bds unlikely that anyone will be swayed by reading this document, especially as much of it relies on \u00ef\u00bf\u00bdproblems\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd that are highly subjective in nature, and \u00ef\u00bf\u00bdsolutions\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd that are equally questionable. Nevertheless it does set the agenda for the next 23 days in Toryland, though the most shocking question it raises is whether such a document is really worth \u00ef\u00bf\u00bd2.50.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A couple of days ago Michael Howard laid out his party’s masterplan for “The British Dream” (a particularly clunky appropriation of American political terminology). In fairness, the Conservatives have had the decency to keep their propaganda short, so for once … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jcm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jcm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jcm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jcm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jcm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=424"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jcm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jcm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jcm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jcm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}