BACK TO MAGGIENESS:

Conservatives do not have a party (Peter Hitchens, 6/18/05, The Spectator)

The Tories’ position is hopeless. No man living could conceivably unify the party’s contradictory wings. Europhile or Eurosceptic, pro- or anti-marriage, market enthusiast or moralist — each of these quarrels is fundamental and cannot be settled by compromise. To refuse to resolve them is to ask to be dragged, by events beyond our control, into places we never decided to go.

So David Davis, who is opposed to European integration if he means anything at all, is compelled to seek the support of federalists. This, the modified Molotov–Ribbentrop pact approach, has been tried before — but only by people who forget how that pact ended. Similarly, Kenneth Clarke is seriously put forward as the saviour of a party he plainly hates. While it is hard not to admire Mr Clarke’s lofty scorn for his parliamentary colleagues, the idea is absurd. The issue of the European Union pervades almost every major area of political choice. It is ridiculous to imagine that Mr Clarke’s reasoned support for the EU, which is entirely consistent with his generally Fabian Social Democratic approach to the world, will not swiftly bring him into conflict with those who are committed, just as consistently, to opposing the Union. As for the other compromise candidates being spoken of, they all offer another period of Majorism, neither one damned thing nor the other, yet encouraging bitter divisions by attempting to impose their opaque blandness on all.

It would also be helpful if people would stop referring to ‘Big Beasts in the Jungle’. The metaphor is ridiculous. What survives of the Tory party is more like a decayed municipal park than a jungle, and the little furry creatures that roam about in it may have sharp teeth and ready claws, but they are not big. To be big, they would at least have to have large ideas. But there are none of these. The only argument is, ultimately, about tactics. There is a total lack of original thought, principle or even instinct. Every debate is a pathetic variation on one parasitical theme — shall the Tory party regain its position by becoming more like New Labour, or less like New Labour?

Well, New Labour gained power by aping Thatcher, so turnabout seems fair play.

Posted by Orrin Judd at June 20, 2005 1:42 PM