I rejoiced at the news of Douglas Carswell’s defection to Ukip. Not because I’m a Ukip supporter (I haven’t made up my mind) but because it highlights the slippery dishonesty of the Tories’ modernisation programme – ‘the political equivalent of botox’, as Charles Moore puts it in today’s Telegraph:
The pattern of the leader’s actions conveys a message to party workers: they are the problem. Not surprisingly, they tend to leave. Instead of being a renewal, modernisation has become a hollowing out. Douglas Carswell, by contrast, is authentically a moderniser.
At the heart of Carswell’s vision for Britain lies the expansion of the franchise and political accountability. He believes that digital technology can create social cohesion and therefore a fresh patriotism. He is perhaps the boldest thinker in the House of Commons.
David Cameron has shown no interest in Carswell’s ideas. Indeed, I suspect that – as is his way – he has directed robust insults at him, and that this helps explain Carswell’s sudden change of heart.
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