We have just witnessed a six week long surrender culminating in a humiliating defeat that the vanquished have greeted with joy. The glad handing between Starmer and Sunak might lead people to imagine that England's footballers had triumphed, not that Sunak had failed.
After the Conservative triumph in 2019, it quickly became obvious that the so called 'One Nation' clique were never going to allow the people to have their democracy. Johnson's partial success was probably all they would allow. Covid and a hatchet job on him, for not eating cake, was supposed to reset the pro EU agenda. Party members had other ideas and elected Liz Truss, a Conservative. With the connivance of the Bank of England, Treasury and Civil Service she was politically assassinated and a Sunak coronation followed.
All old news. Yes. However, reading through articles posted on this blog by myself and others from the start of the Johnson government, it is obvious that the problems were known and solutions proposed. Seizing the opportunities of Brexit was desultory. In some cases, such as rowing back on the pledge to remove thousands of EU regulations, downright sabotage. It is difficult to escape the conclusion that those in charge of the Conservative party decided to 'throw' the election.
I've witnessed many election campaigns here and overseas. What the conservative party did in June was not a campaign. There was no attempt to fight. No attempt to highlight the successes (despite them) of Brexit. No explanation that refugees from Hong Kong and Ukraine (quite rightly accepted) had swelled immigration numbers. No commitment that made sense on curbing the illegal immigration problem. All they did was wave a white flag and whine. Like some pathetic victim of Flashman, curled up and begging "Please don't hurt me Flashy".
Sadly many decided not to bother to vote. As a result we have a Labour government with a huge majority elected on a pathetically small vote share. It is led by a man who learned long ago that to get ahead he had to hide his Trotskyist convictions. He supported Corbyn because Corbyn's program is what he wanted. It is what he still wants. Corbyn is an honest man. He laid out his plans and the people said no. Starmer has not laid out his plans, but will implement Corbynism slowly piece by piece. It what the EU call Salami Slicing, the process of an elite imposing their views and policies on an electorate known to oppose them. Electors throughout the EU when given a chance have voted against the overweening power of Brussels. They are ignored. Macron prefers to share power with Communists than give up on the Imperial dream. Ursula von der Leyen has just been 're-elected' by the powerless EU parliament. Unsurprisingly because hers was the only name on the ballot paper. That sums up the contempt the rulers have for the ruled. It is a contempt shared by Starmer and Sunak.
We are condemned to five years of increasingly hard left pro EU rule. It remains to be seen whether that will be long enough for Starmer to totally subvert democracy. What is clear is the he has been aided and abetted by centrist Tories. The false profits of the imaginary 'Centre' are full of nonsense about legacy. They believe they have a right to rule, a right to unquestioning support. They point to their heritage, founded by Sir Robert Peel, the oldest in the world. Except of course that is historical nonsense.
The Conservative party is indeed the oldest in the world. It has existed since the time of Charles I and the civil war. It's unclear whether Pitt was a Whig a Tory or a Pittite. Not that it matters, because he put his country first. Sir Robert Peel was a conservative and he too put his country first. He split the Conservative party on the question of free trade. Conservative Peelites (Including W E Gladstone) supported a Whig government and eventually split completely to join the Whigs in creating the Liberal Party.
The real founder of modern conservatism is Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby who was Prime Minister three times and gave Benjamin Disraeli his first job as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Both the Tories and Liberals eventually became avid free traders. They both ignored the fact that the USA and Germany had abandoned free trade and were growing rich and powerful by imposing protectionist tariffs. Their myopic refusal to move with the times cost us dear. The myopic refusal of the EU supporting elite to seize the opportunities of Brexit will cost us too.
The Conservative party has outlived its usefulness. It has no right to expect support from anyone who, unlike them, puts country first. Democrats can either spend five years trying to breath life into a corpse or spend that time as midwife to a renewal. We desperately need to bring back democracy. We need honesty not Salami Slicing. Both Reform and the SDP offer an alternative. Both will be improved by an influx of people who want their voices heard not ignored. The rump of Conservative MPs who actually believe in this country must do a Peel and split the pretend conservative party. Join Reform or declare for SDP. Be honest and accept that flogging a dead horse is not the reason they were elected.