Which way is right: the centre holds

Few put a political argument better than Tim Montgomerie, the editor of ConservativeHome, and his latest column in the Times is no exception. Policies portrayed as priorities of the Tory right, he said, are also shared by the majority of the public. Some 70 per cent of Britons want a referendum on Europe and 80 per cent support a tougher approach to crime. He reprised Sir Keith Joseph’s argument about the ‘common ground’ which politicians ought to share with the public. You really can be Eurosceptic and cherish the NHS. It’s possible to favour less immigration and a more generous state pension.

Montgomerie’s thesis is that a wise Conservative party would pick-and-mix its policy proposals, and that just because some of these would be described as right-wing or even extreme does not mean they would represent minority points of view. I realise he eschews the language of ‘right-/left-’ wing but the key positions he recommends are described as right-wing.