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Tory or conservative

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Last week a press officer at Conservative Campaign HQ asked* journalists to stop describing Conservatives as Tories. It was a fruitless request as ‘Tory’ is much less of a mouthful for broadcasters and much snappier for headline-writers.

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This site is also happy to call the Conservative Party the Tory Party. Partly because we regard conservatism as describing (1) a way of thinking and (2) a set of beliefs that are independent of Britain’s Tories.

In America the distinction between conservatives and Republicans is well understood. Conservatives are just one part – although the dominant part – of George W Bush’s Republican coalition.

This memo examines whether five types of conservative – fiscal, social, compassionate, national security and national sovereignty – should vote for Michael Howard at May 5th’s General Election. Our clear recommendation is ‘yes’ although, on every front, Britain’s Tories could offer more…
1. Should fiscal conservatives vote Tory?

Fiscal conservatives can vote for Michael Howard with confidence. Through the James Review the Conservatives have identified £35bn of government waste. Eliminating this waste will afford an £8bn reduction in government borrowing, a £23bn increase in frontline spending and £4bn of tax cuts. This conservativehome.com memo has already complained about the timidity of the Tory tax-cutting agenda but, on balance, Oliver Letwin’s willingness to cut out some of the fat from government will avoid the risk of third term Labour tax rises. It is unlikely, however, to immediately put Britain on the kind of footing that will allow it to stop losing business to the countries of Central Europe and their competitive tax regimes.

Economic issues were once decisive in elections. A government that had delivered (or, at least, presided over) prosperity was a sure bet for re-election. A government with a record of slow growth, unemployment or inflation would struggle at the polls. Labour believes that its economic record is its trump card and we can expect Gordon Brown to be given front-and-centre status during the campaign – despite his rift with Tony Blair. But as The Sun wrote* yesterday, Labour have not built a strong economy – they inherited one: “On Gordon Brown’s first day in office as Chancellor, a senior Treasury official told him that the Tories had left him a “solid gold economic legacy”. The fear then was Labour would waste it. But it did not. It nurtured it and the economy went from strength to strength.”

The Tories do not believe that the economy has gone from strength to strength. 66 extra taxes – many imposed stealthily and on the lowest income households – have slowed the economy. Gordon Brown’s 1997 decision to grant independence to the Bank of England has underpinned monetary stability but only the election of Michael Howard will protect the Bank’s independence. Labour and Liberal Democrat support for the eurozone will bind the British economy to an interest rate manufactured by Frankfurt’s European Central Bank. A Frankfurt interest rate will often be wrong for British industry and mortgage payers.
2. Should social conservatives vote Tory?

Two recent statements by Tory leader Michael Howard illustrate the confused relationship that Tories have with socially conservative voters. In an interview* with a gay lifestyle magazine the Tory leader regretted the Section 28 legislation (that he introduced in the 1980s) that protected schoolchildren from the ‘promotion’ of homosexuality. But he also reassured pro-life voters by supporting a reduction in the time limit on abortions.

On the plus side Michael Howard has also opposed the Mental Capacity Bill (a backdoor to euthanasia) and has appointed Theresa May to fashion a more family-friendly Conservative agenda.

There is no sign, however, that the Tories are willing to abolish the penalty that married couples face from the tax system. This is a retreat from bold promises to support marriage that were made by John Major in 1997 and by William Hague in 2001. Tory policy on family breakdown is more Chamberlain than Churchill.

But if the Tories are imperfect on issues of importance to social conservatives they are certainly preferable to Labour and Liberal Democrats. The LibDems are Britain’s most liberal party with permissive policies on pornography, abortion and family life. Visit this* website for gruesome details.
3. Should compassionate conservatives vote Tory?

Iain Duncan Smith put compassionate conservatism at the heart of his leadership. The policies that emerged from that time are still Tory policy:

- The school choice agenda will most help children in poorer communities that have been prisoners of failing schools. Faith-based schools will also flourish under this policy.

- A 1000% increase in drug rehab places will help more young people to escape the conveyor belt to crime. Tories also oppose Labour’s more lenient approach to cannabis.

- 40,000 extra neighbourhood police officers and the direct election of police authorities will take Britain closer to the kind of zero tolerance policing that most protects poorer communities.

Since Michael Howard became leader the Tories have promised to match Labour’s spending commitments on international aid. They will also channel more money through proven development charities and make less use of often corrupt government channels.

Unfortunately the Tories are not actively promoting their one nation agenda and are instead focusing on ‘core vote’ issues like immigration and travellers’ rights. These policies are energising the Tory base but they are not helping the party connect with values voters who seek moral permission to vote Tory. This might be the difference between the 35% that the Tories are polling and the 43%/44% that they need to win a parliamentary majority.
4. Should national security conservatives vote Tory?

This is Britain’s first post 9/11 election but homeland security won’t play the kind of role that it did in America’s recent contest. Pundits are fairly convinced that insofar as Iraq is discussed Labour’s vote will suffer. US pollster Frank Luntz has recommended that the anti-war Liberal Democrats widely distribute images of Tony Blair standing alongside George Bush. Luntz told* The Times that he’d never seen focus groups react so strongly (and negatively) to an image.

Without a 9/11 experience Britain’s voters have been unwilling to support strong action against the terror threat. This may explain why Michael Howard told The Sunday Times that he wouldn’t have voted for the particular motion that Tony Blair put before Parliament to authorise the Iraq war, if “he knew then what he knows now”. Although he made it clear that he still supported the removal of Saddam he confused voters and made himself vulnerable to charges of opportunism.

Overall, however, the election of the Tories would be good news for the war on terror. The Tories are committed to increased investment in Britain’s armed forces and their opposition to further European integration will mean that Britain will remain free to support pre-emptive action against terrorist-supporting nations.

A little more of the case against Tony Blair’s stewardship of the war on terror is outlined in this opinionated article.
5. Should national sovereignty conservatives vote Tory?

Patriotic conservatives will find the Conservative Party more sceptical towards Europe than at any time in modern history. William Hague and IDS led the party in a more pro-British direction and Michael Howard has consolidated the trend. The Tories are the only one of the three major parties to oppose the EU constitution and British membership of the euro. They are also committed to repatriation of fishing and international development policies from Brussels.

These policies would be more credible if – as The Daily Telegraph has recommended – the Tories attached their demands to a threat to withdraw from the EU. Michael Howard has concluded, however, that such a policy could cause a dangerous split with Ken Clarke, Michael Heseltine and other party grandees.

Some Euro-sceptics will therefore be tempted by UKIP’s ‘out-of-Europe’ message but a slippage of likely Tory voters to UKIP will only benefit Labour and LibDem candidates who are, of course, more committed to the European bandwagon. Large votes for the United Kingdom Independence Party threaten Tory MPs sat on thin majorities. Oliver Letwin and David Davis, for example. This is undoubtedly why arch-europhile Peter Mandelson has been encouraging* the BBC to give more media attention to UKIP. Every time a conservative is tempted to think of voting UKIP they should remember that that is exactly what Peter Mandelson, New Labour strategist, desires.

April 5, 2005 at 11:51 PM in UK | Permalink | Top of page | Blog Home