Rounding up the liberals (lower case, British English definition) and getting them all into a government with an agreed five-year programme is a truly Conservative idea. The annoying fringe weeds of the two coalition parties will fulminate but find that they are irrelevant.
Conservatism's great strength, in evolutionary terms, is non-dogmatic pragmatism. The talent for adapting to changed circumstances and the knack of seizing the potential benefits of change in the national interest are the lifeblood of the Tory Party and the secret of its survival and resilience over many generations.
David Cameron has proved himself a true and potentially great Conservative Prime Minister by immediately recognising the truth of the outcome of the election and turning it to the nation's advantage. It redounds to his credit and shows that he is the best man for the arduous role of Prime Minister.
Cameron's decisive and imaginative invitation to the Liberal Democrats to take part in government demonstrated his own courage and wisdom and demanded the same on the part of both parties. Both parties will have to weather the opprobrium of those in their membership who put dogmatism before the opportunity to govern and would prefer to pontificate from the sidelines instead of taking responsibility.
The genuinely liberal (Orange Book) tradition in the Liberal Democrat Party sits well alongside the One Nation Conservatism of David Cameron and will drag the more mature soft left LibDems with them leaving the loonies on the sidelines.
The Social Democrat refugees from the Labour Party who later joined the Liberals because, frankly, they had nowhere else to go, may have to choose among supporting this government in the national interest, remaining inside it with seditious intent - which would indicate a naive political death-wish on their part - and going home to Labour, assuming the Labour Party survives its forthcoming philosophical convulsions to become a social democratic party and does not morph into a ranting hard left dinosaur.
Congratulations to David Cameron for being a true Conservative, for forming and leading a government intent on personal liberty, national security, independence and national advancement, sound money, compassionate social policy and pragmatic foreign policy in Britain's interest.
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I think both Cameron and Clegg have come out well out of this. . Both men did what their old guard would never have done and compromised for the sake of the country. I'm pleased that we now have a whole new generation in charge after all those years with the Boomers running things. As the Independent predicted last week (http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/jonathan-pontell-cleggs-rise-is-the-sound-of-generation-jones-clearing-its-throat-1961191.html) “the torch has been passed” from the Boomers to Generation Jones. Cameron, Clegg, and a big chunk of the new Cabinet and Parliament are all GenJonesers, I don’t think there could have been an alliance if Boomers were still running the parties and it will be interesting to see how this generational change affects things.
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of us need to catch up in understanding who this long-lost generation between the Boomers and Xers is to fill out the picture of the nature of our new leadership. Here's a good summery:http://www.generationjones.org.uk/
The genuinely liberal (Orange Book) tradition in the Liberal Democrat Party sits well alongside the One Nation Conservatism of David Cameron and will drag the more mature soft left LibDems with them leaving the loonies on the sidelines.
ReplyDeleteThe Social Democrat refugees
sorry but just plain wrong David cameron is a tory wet, but this makes him a social democrat just like the supposed refugees and new labour
The Orange book liberals fit better with the,euro sceptic, free market, small goverment wing (dare I say thatcherite) elements the party
Dave's last minute change from blue blair to a believer in less goverment is a facade that will soom drop
Hence Osbourne's collapse in Brussels over hedge funds