Selling a myth

And today I met the salesmen. Oliver Letwin entered the room sweating, took out his embroidered handkerchief and dabbed his forehead. I'd hasten a guess that the sweat was partially due to the humid conditions in Westminster this eve, and partially because he had just entered a room full of Compass supporters with Jon Cruddas sitting at the table, ready to pounce. Having seen Jon speak at quite a few events, I don't blame Ollie, his perspiration was probably justified.
Anyway, the debate tonight surrounded 'Communitarianism' and its place on the left and on the right. I'm not going to go into great detail, partly because I lack the inclination, and partly because I'm not gonna lie, I don't fully understand the intricacies of the Communitarianist debate.
What I'd like to discuss is New Toryism. Red Toryism. Compassionate Conservatism. Whatever you'd like to call it, I was damn sure it didn't exist before tonight. Was I converted? What do you think...

Philip Blond (a so called 'red Tory') argued for the redistribution of inherited wealth. He didn't go into detail. Quelle surprise. I was biting my tongue, until he finished, to raise the elephant in the room. The gentleman behind me got there first... Maybe Letwin and Blond had forgotten Tory policy on Inheritance tax. Thankfully comrade behind me reminded him. There were protestations of "I don't necessarily support that policy" from Blond, yet when questioned whether he was fighting the policy from within the party, you could hear the proverbial pin drop. This new 'progressive agenda' (LOL) whitewashes over traditional Tory thinking which still has a stronghold on the party. On Cameron too. Cameroonism - talk the talk, but when it comes to walking anywhere - nah, there's a Jag following behind, and they'll hop in.

Letwin and Blond spoke, audaciously and rather proudly, of a Broken Britain, which the Tories are now "primed to step in and save".
Every time I hear the BB phrase emanate from a Tory mouth, I feel something in my stomach about to emanate from mine.
Broken Britain, if it exists, was broken by the individualistic ideology, and rejection of community and society of the Thatcher epoch. It sounds old. It sounds easy for Labourites to say. But it's true. And Thatcherism retains a strong influence in the Tory party today. To an extent, it retains a strong influence in the Labour Party too. But we let Compassionate Conservatism paper over that at our peril. The inherent, incessant cracks that Thatcherism produced in our society remain. New Labour tried to use the easy 'plaster of Paris' approach. That hasn't worked. But if the New Tories think they're the best party suited to implement the whole scale reform of the ideology which underpins Politics, economics and therefore British society today, then might I suggest we all give up and leave now?

Labour cannot win another election by moving more and more towards the right, and in doing so, pushing the Tories even further. We must reoccupy the left. The left of centre, and in giving Tories the space to define themselves, probably the centre too. New Labour, I believe, is founded on the core belief that the Tory party are the natural party of government, that we must hijack their appeal and their voters for success. Maybe, maybe not. But success at what price? This country is essentially socialist at heart.Britain has an instinct of collectivism, which we see in times of hardship. Our default setting. Our most treasured institution? The NHS, a purely socialist one. We need functional democracy (i.e. PR) , when we engage people -more people than those in swing constituencies which dictate the political agenda and the battle for centre (-right) ground- they become interested. This moment is too important for the vast majority of our country to feel disillusioned. Tories won't deliver what we need, they won't even pretend to try.

So you'll not be surprised to hear I'm not buying the new model the Tories are selling. The winner of the next election will shape a new political era. The fallacy that markets could rule, relatively unregulated with no casualties was exposed for what it was last year. The market model seeks profit wherever it can, not fairness or justice, or indeed a good society. The Tories don't have the inclination to implement the vital change necessary. Labour, at the moment, may not either. But we've got a history and a fundamental ideology, upon which we were founded, to work with. Whereas the Tories have Phillip Blond.