Once again the Tory faithful assembled in Birmingham for
this year’s Tory Party conference to drink, eat and complain about the working
class. As usual they reserved their strongest hatred for the class enemy –
those Tory leaders who were not up for a good bout of shouting “hang ‘em!, flog ‘em!”
Once again the Tory faithful assembled in Birmingham for
this year’s Tory Party conference to drink, eat and complain about the working
class. As usual they reserved their strongest hatred for the class enemy –
those Tory leaders who were not up for a good bout of shouting “hang ‘em!, flog ‘em!”
The Tory leadership have always despised the massed ranks of
their party, seeing them only as election fodder to be tolerated like unruly
butlers. In truth, the Tory Party is dominated by big business and, in particular,
finance capital. The Tory grandees have little time for these small-time local
councillors prattling on about the importance of small businesses and so on.
However, over the years some in the leadership have made use of the ranks to
push through their own campaigns for highest office. Thatcher, for example,
knew exactly how to push their buttons. Boris Johnston is the latest such
person to have a go at this. He strolled into Birmingham like a conquering
Roman emperor ready to swear allegiance to the current leadership whilst
working hard to push himself forward at every opportunity. By imagining that
his current popularity in the opinion polls represents real leadership skills,
his supporters in the party and in the national press have convinced themselves
that he is a shoe-in to be the next Tory leader. This says volumes about the
decline of the Tory Party itself that such a bumbling buffoon should be rated
as PM material. It is a sign of
the extreme desperation within the Tory ranks that his name has even been
jokingly considered.
Of course, these are grim days for the Tory party. They have
been hammered in the local elections and in by-elections over the last period.
For all Labour’s failings this process is set to continue as opinion polls
continue to show a healthy Labour lead.
Since gaining the Tory leadership, Cameron has attempted to give the
impression that he has learnt the lessons of the past and that there will be no
return to “the nasty party.” However, though his words said one thing, his deeds
have said quite another. The government’s regime of austerity has meant a
degree of attack on the working class that has surpassed anything Thatcher
might have even dreamed about doing. Given the slump in Tory party support (and
remember they actually did not win the last election) this year Cameron decided
that he had nothing to lose by pandering to the Tory right sitting in the hall
listening to his keynote speech.
Before that we had George Osborne and his new great idea –
shares for all. Based on an earlier idea floated a year or two ago by one of
the myriad Tory think tanks, this new plan involves saving the economy for
capitalism by dishing out shares to the workers. The only little thing they
have to do is give up all their rights. Of course, no one in his or her right
mind would willingly take up such an offer. You lose all your legal protection
in return for what? A bundle of shares that in all probability will result in
very little return if any in the form of a dividend and, should the company get
into trouble, will become worthless as you are booted out the door without even
a redundancy cheque. It is a con
designed by Osborne to deflect attention from the fact that every economic
prediction he and the Tories have made have been proven to be worthless. Indeed
whilst the conference was underway new data was downgrading the UK economy and
pouring scorn on any hope of an early recovering in fortune.
Once Osborne was out of the way, conference was allowed to
drag on with very little to stop the delegates from exploring the shops of
Birmingham. One plan was floated about allowing people to “bash a burglar” All
very exciting for the Tory Death Wish fans until it was pointed out that in the
US, where such rights already exist, burglars tend to pre-empt their hammering
by murdering the people they are robbing. Still it all sounded good for the
Tory press looking for nice right-wing sound bites.
For
Cameron, the crisis was about blaming the poor, the public sector and those on
benefits for the recession. For him it was nothing to do with the banks and his
pals in the City. Naturally he
supported tax cuts for the rich arguing that it was “their money.” Actually, it
is money stolen from the working class in the form of rent, interest and
profit. Although most of the
speech contained the same vague promises about a better Britain that party
leaders make every year (funny how it never happens) he also made clear that
the cuts would continue and be worse than expected. He was telling a strange
sort of truth when he said “ I’m am not here to defend privilege, I’m here to
spread it.” Yes, amongst the rich and powerful. Cameron will have departed the conference centre in a happy
mood – he will soon have that smile wiped off his face. The Tory right wing is
already mobilising around a strategy of extreme cuts as the way forward and
will be pushing this agenda hard. The voters will be looking to punish the
Tories for the cuts at every opportunity and the pressure will only grow as the
date of the next election approaches. The task for Labour is to get this rotten
crew out which means abandoning the “One Nation” approach of slow cuts to
sweeten the package and taking up instead a clear programme of socialist
policies. This is how to defeat the Tories once and for all.
