The mood at the Tory conference is grim to funereal, and for good reason. They know they’re beat. There’s a sense that something has changed in British politics and we ain’t going back.
Labour is revived; the Tories are divided and unpopular. But it’s about more than just a 45p tax cut, which was a bad idea, or the U-turn, which was suicidal (if a centre-Right government can’t pass a tax cut with an 80-seat majority, it’s dead in the water). The reality is that Britain doesn’t want what the Conservative party is now selling.
Their economic message is actually sound; it’s infuriating that they can’t seem to articulate it. In short, the west is in decline. We’re not productive or innovative enough; too many people are now chasing too few products, most notably energy, causing inflation. The solution pursued since Blair has been to improve the ‘demand side’, i.e. give the consumer more money to spend via money printing, benefits, social goods etc.
It is just wrong that while the Tories can sign off on a 45p tax cut, they drag their feet over raising benefits
Problem is, in the end the money runs out, and your economic base hasn’t modernised or grown.
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