I’ve been saying for years that the Tories are never right-wing about the things I want them to be right-wing about and Labour are never left-wing about the things I want them to be left-wing about.
It was said, I think by Geoffrey Wheatcroft, though I can’t find the quote, that the last two decades saw the economic triumph of the right and the cultural triumph of the left. It’s almost as though a tacit deal was done. “You can have equality and diversity laws, political correctness, curbs on police powers and progressive teaching if we can have a casualised labour market, castrated unions, low regulation and outsourcing.” Both Labour and the Conservatives have embraced the economic liberalism of the right and the social liberalism of the left, albeit to slightly different degrees. The casualties have been traditional Toryism and old working class Labourism, both of which have been quietly abandoned. The tacit deal also means that both parties collude on what is not said. “We won’t mention hanging and flogging if you don’t bang on about nationalisation or high tax. And we’ll both tone it down on immigration.”
Ed West has noticed some of this too. “The Conservatives are only Right-wing when no one wants them to be,” he complains. He is referring to the suggestion by government adviser and venture capitalist Adrian Beecroft that unfair dismissal laws should be abolished. In may ways, this report epitomises the Conservatives’ drift to that blend of social and economic liberalism, now reinforced by their alliance with the Lib Dems.
Read it carefully and you will notice that, while unfair dismissal is to be abolished, discrimination law will not be touched. This would effectively remove protection from white men (unless they happened to be a minority in the place where they worked) while maintaining it from women and ethnic minorities. What would be left of our employment law would say that it is OK to sack anyone, for whatever reason, unless the reason is due to sex, race religion or disability. You don’t need much imagination to see what the effect of such a law would be.
“What is it with the Conservatives?” asks Ed West:
They seem to be Right-wing only where no one wants them to be Right-wing. Theirs is a conservatism that cares nothing about British sovereignty, marriage, natural justice, defending the borders, law and order or the armed forces, but that cares deeply about reducing the rights of British workers.
I’m reminded of Ian Fletcher’s question, “Is capitalism conservative any more?” He concluded that it isn’t. Our conservative party now is certainly more capitalist than conservative. The economic triumph of the right sees employment protection weakened. The cultural triumph of the left insists that an equality and diversity gloss is put upon it by maintaining discrimination laws. Adrian Beecroft’s proposal is thoroughly modern politics.
