Steve Richards, one of the unmissable voices of the centre-Left, has an interesting column in today’s Indy in which he takes issue with Fraser over immigration. If those on the Right who welcome immigration concede that more and better public services will be required, asks Steve, surely we are conceding the Left’s point that more Government intervention and investment will be needed? His broader point is that the Right is in a muddle over the State (does it want more or less?) and immigration (does it want the labour market or the state to set its limits?)
There is a confusion here between pure free market ideology – which has certainly been influential in the Conservative Party since the late Seventies – and the broader tradition of conservatism. On family policy, law and order, immigration, and defence, many (perhaps most) people who call themselves conservative would argue for a strong role for the State, just as many on the Left would like to see government assert no fiscal judgments on family matters, more liberal immigration, and less military spending.
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