Jacob REES-MOGG

Only a leader who believes in Brexit and advocates Conservative principles can reverse this decline

‘Never glad confident morning again” was the line quoted at Harold Macmillan about the Profumo scandal, applied to John Major after the departure from the Exchange Rate Mechanism, and which now hangs over Theresa May as an epitaph, as her time as Prime Minister ebbs away. Local election results, which have been especially weak in Somerset, are a symptom of a party that has forgotten how to govern, why it wants to govern and what it promised voters when offering its services to govern.

The Huawei affair is a clear example of a party that has forgotten how to govern. The first duty of any administration is the defence of the realm. This comes above any commercial considerations, be they opening up trade routes or the desire to introduce new technologies. The nation’s security is a price worth paying even if it has a potential economic cost or a diplomatic one. It is an area where “safety first” must be the guiding principle. Hence, even if there

were a small risk that Huawei could be used by the Chinese government to gather secrets, its technology must be avoided. When our closest defence allies tell us not to buy services from this company, any prudent leadership would take notice and send courteous apologies to the Chinese.

That this has not happened shows the inability of Downing Street to make the most obvious decisions, which is made worse by the displacement activity of a leak inquiry and the sacking of a defence secretary who put the defence of the realm first. It is often the case that the more embarrassing the leak the greater the brouhaha surrounding it. However, it is not the leak that threatens national security and our relationship with our allies, but a foolish decision.

Thus, the sacking of Gavin Williamson for being right on the fundamental issue is a rather feeble attempt to cover up poor decisionmaking. It is also petty as this exceptionally leaky government has decided to make an example, without any obvious process, of one minister perhaps pour encourager les autres, making Mr Williamson a 21st-century Admiral Byng.

This is part of the issue of having forgotten why Conservatives want to govern. Surely, defence should be at the heart of every Tory’s understanding of the purpose of ruling? Unfortunately, it is a deep-set problem shown up by the last manifesto. This had a series of unconnected policy precepts as if the Prime Minister had walked into a sweet shop of policies and picked up a few at random to fill the available paper bag. There was no underlying philosophy of what Conservatives believed. It was, simply, that we would be rather better managers than Jeremy Corbyn, which is neither a particularly high nor inspiring target.

There was no explanation that the Tories believe in a society that is built from the bottom up where the state is there to help and protect, not to order and direct. There was no declaration that the object of a Conservative government is to allow people to lead the lives that they want, while trying to take obstacles out of their way. There was no understanding that the best interests of the collective are served by the free choices of individuals, rather than the socialist ideal that the best interests of the individual are served by the orders of the collective.

This is a central problem for a party of government, for if it does not set out its core beliefs then when unexpected problems arise it will offer unimaginative bureaucratic responses as it will have no well of ideas upon which to draw. This leaves it directionless and able to do little more than the management of decline.

Forgetting what was promised is the greatest sin. Cynics may even think that the promises were never really meant in the first place. This is the most corrosive view, with a destructive effect both upon trust in politicians in general and in a particular party’s support. Recent history shows how devastating a loss of trust can be and how quickly apparently safe seats can be lost. The Prime Minister promised to deliver Brexit, she said we would leave on March 29, that “no deal is better than a bad deal”, that Brexit means Brexit and that we would leave the customs union and the single market. None of this has happened and as the Liberal Democrats were punished for capitulation on tuition fees so the Tories suffered at the local elections.

This is deeply unfair on swathes of councillors who have worked tirelessly for their communities, sometimes for decades. They have been swept away not because of anything that they have done but because of failures at the top. People who normally vote Tory either stayed at home or voted for a protest party, be it Liberal Democrats, Greens or independents. Labour suffered too because it also failed to deliver on its Brexit promises. Thus, the warning shot has been fired and the Conservative Party must heed it.

While the importance of local government must not be understated, this could possibly be a blessing in disguise as it now gives the Tories the opportunity to make the things right that have gone wrong. Inevitably, this will be with a new leader. Mrs May has already announced that she will retire before the next election but it must be someone who will advocate Conservative principles, put them into action and ensure that promises and deeds match.

Most obviously, Brexit needs to happen in a true form. The vassal state that apparently the Government and the Opposition have agreed, including a customs union and high alignment, is not the answer. This will simply ossify the failure that has just been punished in the local elections. The Tory party needs to be the Brexit party and to win back all those who are planning to support Nigel Farage and my sister, Annunziata Rees-mogg, at the European elections. To do so will show the path to a clean Brexit. This is not to deny that the current House of Commons has set its face against leaving the European Union properly and wants to remain at least semiattached, but Parliament against the people cannot work for long. Voters will not tolerate such a state of affairs.

Anything that is agreed by a Parliament more addled than the one James I dissolved in 1614 will not be the final word on the relationship between the UK and the EU. There is a fundamental constitutional principle, that one Parliament cannot bind its successors. The British people cannot be bound in permanent servitude to the EU. This is the basis of the sovereignty of Parliament which may legislate on any matter under its control, regardless of previous legislation or purported international treaties. A stitch-up by Remainers will not and must not be the last word.

A new leader will have to return the Conservative Party to its principles so that policy flows from belief, not media management. This person needs to make the hard choices of government and use the available levers of power that currently lie rusting in No10 as if they were in one of the signal boxes axed by Dr Beeching. Most importantly of all, the largest vote for any single thing in our entire nation’s history must be implemented. Then these election results will be a lesson from which we would have learnt and from which we can recover.

Charles Moore is away