Speeches by Theresa May and Liam Fox have produced a surge of interest in what Conservatives stand for. Politics in recent years has become an endeavour by a political class, divided by only superficially different beliefs, to use mass advertising techniques to manipulate public opinion. The emphasis on ‘modernisation’ and detoxification grew out of this narrow, calculating spirit, but it has led the Conservatives away from the ideals that have made this country worthy of allegiance. And yet, readily to hand, there are guiding principles that could stir the heart of many a potential Conservative voter.
Many conservatives see themselves as champions of liberty. But what does such a claim imply for the role of government today? We can trace a common interpretation of liberty from Milton and Locke in the seventeenth century, through Burke and Smith in the eighteenth, to Hayek in the twentieth.
The common thread is a belief that the political system should foster and protect the freedom of the individual.
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