OPINION
David Cameron talks during joint press conference with Nick Clegg in 2010 (Image: PA)
As I came of age in the 1980s, no-one doubted what the Tories stood for. Individual responsibility, meritocracy, a small state and careful husbandry of public finances.
The dividing lines with our political opponents were crystal clear. This is what inspired me to serve as a local councillor and then for the first two decades of the present century as an MP.
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But after three defeats at the hands of Tony Blair, we lost our confidence. Unlike New Labour, who jettisoned much socialist baggage in order to get back into power, our gods did not fail.
In the fullness of time, Gordon Brown’s profligate spending (along with reckless behaviour by some in the financial markets) brought the economy to its knees.
Yet when David Cameron – the self-styled “heir to Blair” – made it to No.10, we accepted much of what had come before.
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Indeed, Cameron was never more comfortable than working in a cosy centrist coalition with the Liberal Democrats.
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In our 14 years at the helm, we failed to repeal the Equalities Act, which Labour had rushed in just before losing office in 2010, and even the controversial “A-List” of Parliamentary candidates was about imposing compliant careerists under the guise of diversity.
Small wonder many voters began to think there was little to choose from between the political parties.
Given what has followed, there is in my view an understandable but mistaken tendency to lionise the coalition years. Yet tough decisions were flunked – it is always so much easier to commission another public inquiry or independent review than to commit to action.
Arguments over energy capacity, social care, state pensions, criminal justice, house building and planning reform have barely changed, but a lack of political resolve has turned these challenges into crises. Then came Brexit.
Never forget that the type of Brexit most Conservatives instinctively supported was not the version sold to the public during the referendum campaign. The Singapore-onThames, deregulatory version of Brexit that might have won over Thatcherite Conservatives like me would never have won the approval of many Red Wall voters who backed Leave.
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In any case, with some seven million functionally illiterate adults and five million on out-of-work benefits, it was always a pipe-dream to believe the UK’s economy was nimble enough to go down this route.
Most Leave voters understood “taking back control” of immigration to mean lower overall numbers. No ifs, no buts. Which is why they feel so betrayed by the “Boriswave” that saw numbers rising exponentially. But for many years Tory leaders were consistently tempted to deal with immigration as a problem that could be solved by a retail offer.
Cameron devised the “restrict annual immigration to tens of thousands” pledge; Theresa May threatened a “hostile environment” for illegal immigrants and, in due course, Rishi Sunak promised to “stop the boats”. All failed.
Living in the capital city since the late 1980s and having represented the heart of London as an MP, I’m well aware of the massive demographic change that has taken place. All this without public assent.
The impact on communities of large scale immigration continues as a result of differential birthrates and the virtually routine granting of leave to remain.
Yet little attention is paid to the fact so much of the surge continues as a result of the failure by successive governments to invest in domestic development and training to plug glaring gaps in the workforce.
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When were you last served by a British citizen in a café or barbers? Do not underestimate the long shadow of Covid either.
What shocked me at the time – and still slightly disturbs me to this day – is just how compliant the British public were to the repressive rules they were instructed to obey.
We should have had selected quarantine for the elderly and medically vulnerable rather than all-out lockdown.
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More worryingly, the vast debt that was rapidly built up to sustain millions of livelihoods abruptly halted by lockdown made it even harder to question higher public spending post pandemic.
All this has fundamentally altered attitudes towards the role of government during times of trouble. None of this is good news for Conservatives.
The Rt Hon Mark Field is a former MP and author of The End of an Era (Biteback Publishing)