This Tory Party seems to stand for nothing
Despite some Rightwing policies, the absence of a defining mission mean its successes are dwarfed by a Leftwing bigstate agenda
Trying to discern a political philosophy – or even a basic strategy – underpinning Boris Johnson’s administration is something of a fool’s errand.
Its initial mission was a constitutional one: unblock the logjam over Brexit. No sooner had this been achieved than the world was hit by the pandemic. Just as Covid was about to be put behind us, Russia invaded Ukraine. Even if this Government had a well-thought-out domestic agenda for reform, it was always going to find itself at the mercy of epic events rather than in control of its own destiny.
The PM has seemed extraordinarily relaxed about the ballooning of public expenditure and similarly unexercised that he is prevailing over the highest tax burden, as a proportion of national income, since the post-War government of Clement Attlee.
No one seems quite able to define “levelling up”. The aspiration appears to be to help left-behind parts of the UK catch up with London and the southeast, but the mechanism by which this is to be achieved amounts to little more than old-fashioned regional development policy.
Free-market critics of this Government are often aghast at its willingness to embrace the idea that the easiest way to tackle the country’s problems is to spend money, increase regulation, or do a bit of each. Boris Johnson seems unembarrassed that the official Opposition is attacking him for allowing taxes to reach such heights. He responds to the charge that he’s a high-tax, low-growth PM with barely a shrug of the shoulders.
The speeches of leading Tories often herald entrepreneurialism and free enterprise, but ministers typically give the impression that they believe their role is merely to applaud capitalism, not to do anything to encourage it.
Those who hanker for a less intrusive role for the state despair that although Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party was defeated twice at the polls, it appears to have succeeded in dramatically shifting the political discourse in the direction of permanently increasing government spending. Some Thatcherites even speculate that a period in opposition might be necessary for the Party to rediscover any sense of reforming zeal.
To be fair, recently we’ve seen the faintest of signs that the Conservatives do still possess some muscle memory when it comes to trying to roll back the frontiers of the public sector.
In a long overdue privatisation, the Government has finally concluded that there can be no justification for the state to own Channel 4. The next logical step, and one it seems willing to countenance, is surely the ending of the outdated BBC licence fee.
Likewise, Minister for Government Efficiency, Jacob Rees-Mogg, has fired the opening salvo in what could lead to a full-scale overhaul of the civil service. He is beginning by tackling its working from home culture, but expect more radical changes. Rees-Mogg is also getting to grips with the opportunities for deregulation brought about by Brexit. If a key reason for leaving the EU was to eliminate red tape, then it’s strange we have yet to go through the inherited acquis with a fine-tooth comb.
And the controversial partnership with Rwanda to get a grip of immigration policy at least displays some imaginative thinking, even if its efficacy remains doubtful.
Ultimately, however, the Tories may be feeling exhausted after a dozen years in office. Reforms are being overshadowed by the Government’s lack of a coherent guiding philosophy. For all the examples of them delivering real change, the long-term danger is that every Right-wing policy is dwarfed by the big-state, high-tax orthodoxy that seems to have taken over. If so, they must resist it before it is too late.
Johnson responds to the charge that he’s a high-tax, low-growth PM with barely a shrug of the shoulders