Tory beliefs flourish in populist ignorance

CONSERVATIVE voters today have the same mind-set as 150 years ago, to be against all tax, unless for weapons of war. In 1870, the Liberal government introduced compulsory universal education for every British child, based on funding from the most just form of tax, where those with most, pay most.

The whole Conservative Party, rich and poor, were outraged that the nation should be held responsible for developing children’s minds. They were outraged again in 1909, that they should be taxed to provide an old-age pension. Conservative

voters are opposed to social justice, then and now.

They were outraged in 1948, when Labour’s Clement Attlee proposed that the most rational, reliable method to improve the health of every citizen was to support the

NHS by fair taxation, while retaining charitable institutions, on which the poor had depended.

But Conservatives have remained opposed to Government planning or paying for the training of enough consultants, so Britain has to depend on educated foreigners to make the NHS work. Students must enter into debts to attend university, which make house purchase difficult, totally rejecting the whole idea that the Government should fund the training of future experts in all fields which the nation needs.

The ‘return’ to the nation, from educated citizens, is incomparable. Tory beliefs, like Brexit, flourish in populist ignorance.

We need HGV drivers, which is ‘in the national interest’, but very few youngsters have the necessary funds to pay for training. Conservative voters do not favour ‘investing in people’ as a principle of all Government, as the only policy to prepare Britain’s future. Do we expect bus and train drivers to train themselves?

C N Westerman Brynna, Mid Glamorgan