Tories and Italians
Sir: Roger Scruton must be laughing, or more likely crying, to hear his Meaning of Conservatism described as the ‘Bible of the Tories’ (‘Italians for Maggie’, 7 September). Nothing could be further from the truth. According to Farrell, ‘Italians believe that only the state can bring freedom.’ But that’s closer to Scruton’s position than the ‘freedom’ Farrell imagines him to be defending. According to Scruton, ‘conservatism is not about freedom, but about authority, and freedom divorced from authority is of no use to anyone — not even to the one who possesses it’. He wrote the book, he tells us in the preface to the third edition, because: ‘I sought to distinguish conservatism from economic liberalism and also to counter the Conservative party’s emphasis on free markets and economic growth.’
Of course all societies are bound by the laws of supply and demand. But what makes a society worth conserving is precisely what is impenetrable to the theoretical understanding. Scruton’s point, though there’s far more to his book than that, was that this political mode of understanding was being subverted by the language of economic theory, leading to a narrow utilitarian understanding of politics inimical to the more expansive organic conception of politics and society his work seeks to explain and defend.
Sean Lydon
London N15
Thinking outside the box
Sir: The article by Ross Clark comparing Hammersmith & Fulham Council to Ryanair (‘Welcome to Ryanair Britain’, 31 August) was far from the mark. Yes, council tax has been reduced by 3 per cent or more for six years out of the past seven, but there has also been a focus on providing excellent services to our residents. Not only has the level of council tax been reduced to the third lowest in England over the past seven years but debt has also been halved, reserves more than doubled and parking charges frozen for the past three years.
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