“TIME TO HIT BACK IN THE CULTURE WARS, WARN SOCIAL CONSERVATIVES”
The next Conservative leader must mount a counter-offensive in the culture wars against rampant liberalism, a pamphlet from a newly-formed group of socially conservative Tory MPs says today.
They urge their party to advance a British version of the “faith, flag and family” rallying cry of George W. Bush’s Republicans and to place traditional values at the heart of the Conservative manifesto.
The pamphlet is critical of the Tory election campaign, accusing it of being too timid about tax cuts, public service reform and family values, and lacking passion and conviction.
It complains that the party leadership relied too heavily on focus groups and opinion polls and that it framed a message barely distinguishable from New Labour.
The traditionalist counterblast comes in a pamphlet from the Cornerstone Group, written by senior Tory MP Edward Leigh.
The group consists of at least 25 like-minded Conservative MPs and it has recently grilled Tory leadership hopefuls about their core beliefs. Cornerstone wants to use the forthcoming contest to argue for authentic conservatism.
Mr Leigh, a former Minister, says that the Tory party is in danger of losing sight of its values.
“We believe that these values must be stressed: tradition; nation; family; religious ethics; free enterprise. We want to use the leadership election to argue for principles and policies, not about personalities.”
Mr Leigh says that liberals, embodied by Tony Blair’s big tent New Labour, and backed by large sections of the media, have been steadily winning the culture wars in Britain for the last 40-50 years. The time has come for social conservatives to fight back.
And he takes encouragement from the fact that despite the supremacy of the liberal elite in media circles, the British public, reflected in poll after poll, still cling to traditional values such as marriage, family and parental discipline.
Mr Leigh warns Tory fainthearts that they must present their case with clarity and conviction. Without the courage to reach out boldly to such people, the Conservative message will lack the force and coherence of moral clarity. And moral clarity is something that liberalism and New Labour cannot provide.
“The liberals have constructed an empire of cultural assumptions which, conservatives must realise, you either surrender to or fight. Emulating New Labour both lacks authenticity and is unlikely to make us popular.
“We must seize the centre ground and pull it kicking and screaming towards us. That is the only way to demolish the foundations of the liberal establishment and demonstrate to the electorate the fundamental flaws on which it is based.”
“It is understandable that after three General Election defeats, many in our party have lost confidence… But it is unacceptable for people whose electoral success is dependent on carrying the Conservative badge to use it to conceal fundamentally unconservative attitudes. Such critics usually have little to offer as a clarion call beyond the shrill cry for evermore unbridled liberty.”
Mr Leigh says that the Conservatives fought the last election with one hand tied behind their backs, too afraid of Labour mud-slinging.
For instance, the tax cut promise of £4 billion was slight given that public spending is running at £700 billion a year. But it did not head off Labour claims of swingeing spending cuts.
In an appeal for clear blue water between the two main parties, he argues for radical tax and spending cuts, a voucher system for schools, tax relief for private health insurance, a more patriotic approach to Europe and the supremacy of Parliament, a compassionate approach to the poor, and the courage to talk about moral values and the importance of marriage to the upbringing of children.
“Modern politicians fight shy of talking about religion. They fear they will be accused of moralising…of setting themselves up for a fall. Many even argue that politics should be morally neutral, and political debate is the poorer for it. Christianity is part of our history and culture.
“Focusing on religion may be too much for some. Perhaps we should refer to our Christian Democrat tradition? This Christian tradition softens our beliefs. For example we are patriots and we want to preserve our country’s sovereignty. But we are not nationalists. We don’t despise other peoples.
“Our Christian Democrat nature gives us a particular interest in world poverty and social justice. However, we just don’t believe that socialism and wasteful use of the public’s money solve the problem.
“If we believe in traditional families where men and women commit themselves to each other as an ideal then we must say so. Proclaiming our ideal does not prevent compassion for other ways of life.
“Critics will say that that Britain has changed, that we must modernise. I would be happier with this argument if I knew what we should change into - New Labour? Liberal Democrat? Is that what the public really want? Why would anyone vote for the pale blue imitation of the liberal orthodoxy when they can get the real thing?
“Tory values are not dead, nor is Tory England. Both lack a voice. We have become too concerned with being on message and not with the message itself. Faith, flag and family are at the heart of Tory thinking.
“Combined, tradition, the nation, the family and free enterprise represent the instincts and preoccupations of most Britons and so, unsurprisingly, they have the capacity to inspire.
“In the USA too, these core conservative issues excite voters. George Bush understands this and wins. Strangely, the Conservative Party has deserted conservative Britain, and so Britons have deserted us.”
“The Strange Desertion of Tory England – The Conservative Alternative to the Liberal Orthodoxy”,by Edward Leigh, is published by the Cornerstone Group.
Attached is a downloadable pdf of the text of Edward Leigh MP’s ‘The Strange Desertion of Tory England: The Conservative Alternative to the Liberal Orthodoxy’.
