This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/sep/29/conservative-raising-mental-drawbridge-editorial

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Conservative party: raising the mental drawbridge Conservative party: raising the mental drawbridge
(about 1 hour later)
Here are two things that senior government ministers said yesterday. Both of them were presumably said in all seriousness. The first was: "We cannot pull up the drawbridge to our islands." Thus the foreign secretary William Hague, speaking on the first afternoon of the Conservative party conference in Manchester. The second was: "To those who say 'stop the world, I want to get off', that's not an option." This time the speaker was the international development secretary Justine Greening. Here are two things that senior government ministers said on Sunday. Both of them were presumably said in all seriousness. The first was: "We cannot pull up the drawbridge to our islands." Thus the foreign secretary William Hague, speaking on the first afternoon of the Conservative party conference in Manchester. The second was: "To those who say 'stop the world, I want to get off', that's not an option." This time the speaker was the international development secretary Justine Greening.
The ministers were right. But the fact that they said these things is itself significant. In no other major British political party would senior figures have to take on such arguments. That is because it is mainly in the Tory party that some people do, in fact, want to pull up the national drawbridge. Likewise there really is a significant current of opinion in the Tory party that would like to withdraw from the modern world. The Conservative party's attitude to the national drawbridge, mental as well as actual, is not as cut and dried as the foreign secretary implies. And the party's stance towards the modern world is not as settled as the international development secretary's remarks suggest either. It is in some ways the Conservative party's greatest tragedy.The ministers were right. But the fact that they said these things is itself significant. In no other major British political party would senior figures have to take on such arguments. That is because it is mainly in the Tory party that some people do, in fact, want to pull up the national drawbridge. Likewise there really is a significant current of opinion in the Tory party that would like to withdraw from the modern world. The Conservative party's attitude to the national drawbridge, mental as well as actual, is not as cut and dried as the foreign secretary implies. And the party's stance towards the modern world is not as settled as the international development secretary's remarks suggest either. It is in some ways the Conservative party's greatest tragedy.
The spectre at the Conservative feast in Manchester this week is Ukip. Ukip is the party for people who would like to pull up the drawbridge against abroad (which, in some of their eyes, includes Scotland). It is also the party for people who would like to stop the world and get off. As Ryan Shorthouse, director of the Tory modernisers' pressure group Bright Blue, wrote at the weekend, Ukip attracts people who are essentially pessimistic about the modern world and wish to detach themselves from it. Pessimists, said Mr Shorthouse, are disturbed by immigrants, want to protect the heterosexual nuclear family against gay rights and working women, and believe that foreigners killing one another are none of our business. Ukip believes all these things, and more. And, according to a YouGov poll this weekend, 37% of Conservative voters think their party should have a pact with Ukip at the 2015 election. A separate survey yesterday showed that almost a quarter of Tory local councillors think the same thing – as do a significant number of MPs. The spectre at the Conservative feast in Manchester this week is Ukip. Ukip is the party for people who would like to pull up the drawbridge against abroad (which, in some of their eyes, includes Scotland). It is also the party for people who would like to stop the world and get off. As Ryan Shorthouse, director of the Tory modernisers' pressure group Bright Blue, wrote at the weekend, Ukip attracts people who are essentially pessimistic about the modern world and wish to detach themselves from it. Pessimists, said Mr Shorthouse, are disturbed by immigrants, want to protect the heterosexual nuclear family against gay rights and working women, and believe that foreigners killing one another are none of our business. Ukip believes all these things, and more. And, according to a YouGov poll this weekend, 37% of Conservative voters think their party should have a pact with Ukip at the 2015 election. A separate survey on Sunday showed that almost a quarter of Tory local councillors think the same thing – as do a significant number of MPs.
The Conservative impulse to appease not fight Ukip over the withdrawal of Britain from the modern world has its roots in the issue of Europe. The Conservative party's divisions on Europe lie between those Eurosceptics who want to leave the European Union and those Eurosceptics who, like David Cameron, would like to negotiate a way of remaining part of it. But the spreading separation of the mind between the English centre-right and the rest of the world now goes beyond the original question of Europe. Europe may have triggered the impulse to raise the drawbridge. But this week in Manchester it is clear that two other issues – the Human Rights Act and immigration – are providing the motor of the drawbridge-raising movement. Yesterday Mr Cameron went further in sanctioning the process which could lead to the UK withdrawing from the European convention on human rights. What Conservative-Ukip voters want more than anything, however, is an assault on immigration. And in Lynton Crosby's party there will be plenty of immigration pledges in Manchester this week too. The Conservative impulse to appease not fight Ukip over the withdrawal of Britain from the modern world has its roots in the issue of Europe. The Conservative party's divisions on Europe lie between those Eurosceptics who want to leave the European Union and those Eurosceptics who, like David Cameron, would like to negotiate a way of remaining part of it. But the spreading separation of the mind between the English centre-right and the rest of the world now goes beyond the original question of Europe. Europe may have triggered the impulse to raise the drawbridge. But this week in Manchester it is clear that two other issues – the Human Rights Act and immigration – are providing the motor of the drawbridge-raising movement. On Sunday Mr Cameron went further in sanctioning the process which could lead to the UK withdrawing from the European convention on human rights. What Conservative-Ukip voters want more than anything, however, is an assault on immigration. And in Lynton Crosby's party there will be plenty of immigration pledges in Manchester this week too.
The ministers were right to warn against Britain cutting itself off from the world. But Britain needs a centre-right party that can prevent such a process. The record is dire. First it was Britain's commitment to Europe which was squandered under the pressure of the drawbridge-raisers. Now it is Britain's commitment to international human rights. Soon it will be Britain's openness to legitimate migration and tourism. There are still progressive modernisers and thoughtful figures in the Tory party. But unless they can keep the drawbridge down, their other ideas, good or bad, will have little meaning in a world in which they will have allowed Britain to be left behind.The ministers were right to warn against Britain cutting itself off from the world. But Britain needs a centre-right party that can prevent such a process. The record is dire. First it was Britain's commitment to Europe which was squandered under the pressure of the drawbridge-raisers. Now it is Britain's commitment to international human rights. Soon it will be Britain's openness to legitimate migration and tourism. There are still progressive modernisers and thoughtful figures in the Tory party. But unless they can keep the drawbridge down, their other ideas, good or bad, will have little meaning in a world in which they will have allowed Britain to be left behind.
Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning.Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning.