The free-market Tory right’s victory on the Australia trade deal obscures the fact that the economic direction of the party has turned against them since the Brexit vote. As I say in the Times today, this is a big-spending Tory government that believes in an active role for the state in fostering innovation and driving growth. As one cabinet minister puts it, ‘It is a kind of Faustian bargain. The Tory right defeated the One Nation Tories on Europe but had to become One Nation Tories on the economy.’
There are several reasons why Brexit hasn’t ushered in the shift to the right on economics that many hoped (or feared). The electoral coalition that delivered both the referendum and the Tory majority in 2019 is not a libertarian one. From the moment that Vote Leave decided to base its campaign on being able to spend more money on the National Health Service, it was inevitable that Brexit wouldn’t lead to this country becoming a new Singapore.
The changing nature of Conservative support is just one factor behind the party’s new approach.
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