Disunited Tories will reap electoral disaster
IN political circles, it is joked that a government that isn’t trailing in the polls halfway through the electoral cycle is not doing its job correctly.
One doubts, however, that Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng are laughing.
Not even in their worst nightmares could they have imagined capping energy bills for families and businesses – one of the biggest government handouts in history – and leaving more money in people’s pockets through tax cuts, only to see their party’s popularity plunge vertiginously.
Their handling of what was a commendable mini-Budget panicked the money markets. That was perceived to have contributed to rising mortgage costs, which left many fearful they wouldn’t be able to pay for their homes. The PM and Chancellor have risked imperilling one of the Conservatives’ greatest strengths – their reputation for economic competence.
So the party conference in Birmingham is critical for this nascent administration. They must convince activists, the wider electorate and global investors that the British economy is in safe hands.
Miss Truss was right to admit making mistakes. But she and Mr Kwarteng were equally correct to vow to stay the course.
Trussonomics is a breath of fresh air, blowing away the cobwebs of the failed economic orthodoxy. Defibrillating the sluggish economy will turbocharge growth, incentivise hard work, increase wages and bring in more money for public services.
After years of politicians who change their minds with the wind, it is refreshing to have leaders who believe being right is more important than being popular.
To show that the Tories are competent though, it is imperative MPs get behind Miss Truss – and not just to stab her in the back.
The disloyalty of Michael Gove, who spent yesterday gleefully denouncing his own Government’s policies, is sickening.
The former Cabinet minister appears to be orchestrating a plot to undermine or even oust Miss Truss, involving MPs still rankled by Rishi Sunak’s leadership defeat.
His claim her agenda is ‘not Conservative’ is hogwash. Tax cuts are Conservative, Mr Gove. What is not, is putting the economy into a coma and making it a crime to visit a dying relative in hospital or at home – as he argued for during Covid.
Those treacherous Tories are playing with fire. A party at war with itself can never expect to win an election.
Don’t they realise the days of Labour being the hopeless circus act they were under Jeremy Corbyn are gone? They now resemble a functioning opposition. Yes, Sir Keir Starmer is a Grade-A dud, but the tumult has refashioned him in the eyes of many voters as a feasible PM.
Should the Tories implode, we risk a diabolical hard-Left alliance of Labour, the SNP and the Lib Dems seizing power.
Do the conspirators really want that? Brexit would wither, and the economy, the Union, and all we cherish would be ruined.
The tomfoolery must stop. The Conservative Party needs to show unity: Of purpose, of message and of approach.