Sam Ashworth-Hayes is a former director of studies at the Henry Jackson Society.
If you ask a typical member of the Conservative party what they want Britain to look like, you’ll get the usual list: low taxes, high growth, strong borders, low crime, sensible regulation, green countryside. If you ask a Conservative MP how Britain might achieve these things, you’ll get a long list of excuses: it simply can’t be done, it’s
Britain’s ageing health infrastructure comes close to breaking point every winter, but this year something is going to give way. On top of the usual litany of complaints about funding and increasing demand on the NHS from an older population, we can add covid backlogs, waiting times stretching into multiples of nominal targets – and
There is no Christmas story like A Christmas Carol, and few seasonal characters as iconic as Ebenezer Scrooge; the ‘clutching, covetous old sinner’ who finds redemption in the abandonment of sound business sense and the joy of Christmas cheer. Scrooge’s name has become a byword for miserly conduct, with Jeremy Hunt the latest to claim
In the hierarchy of excuses for tipping Britain into a month of blackouts, ‘the Met Office didn’t say winter would be cold’ must surely rank among the most abject possible. And yet this seems to be the story the government is running with; faced with the possibility of having to implement rolling power cuts, Conservatives
In 1936, King George V lay on his deathbed. As his final hours drew near, the royal physician administered two injections of morphine and cocaine to hasten his passing, ensuring that his death would be announced in the morning papers, and not the ‘less appropriate evening journals’. The King’s death was quick, painless, and utterly illegal; British
To understand the Conservative party’s approach to government, it’s useful to think of there being two Britains. This is something British people love to do; we divide the country into North and South, rich and poor, London and not. The division that matters for the Conservatives, however, is a little different. It’s not a matter
What exactly happened at FTX and its sister company Alameda Research is unclear, and will be for some time. What we do know is that what’s currently unfolding is a sort of economic Jurassic Park; we are being given a brief glimpse of financial life in the 18th century, before centuries of bitter experience coalesced
What’s the most important story in Britain over the last 25 years? The financial crisis? Brexit? These events both changed our country dramatically. But neither has had such a big impact on the make-up of Britain than immigration. In 1991, Britain’s foreign-born residents made up 6.7 per cent of the population. In 2021, one in six people (16.8 per cent) living in England and Wales were
Suella Braverman is in the firing line. But when she took to her feet in the Commons yesterday, she showed exactly why there is so much pressure on Rishi Sunak to get rid of her: Braverman actually wants to reduce illegal immigration. The Home Secretary’s critics have condemned her for using the word ‘invasion’. ‘No
It’s finally happened. After months of legal wrangling, Twitter has fallen. All hail King Elon; the ‘bird is freed’. The executives running the show have been defenestrated, including CEO Parag Agrawal and head of safety Vijaya Gadda. Around the virtual watering hole, skittish packs of activists watch nervously as the ground shakes; Donald Trump, the
As the Conservative party holds its third leadership contest in four years, Britain is not experiencing déjà vu; we’re just stuck on square one. The three frontrunners consist of the previous contest’s runners-up, Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt and Boris Johnson, the man they previously deposed. If insanity is doing the same thing over and over
The Chicxulub meteor did for the dinosaurs; Netflix saw off Blockbuster. When the time comes to write the history of the Conservative party, the period from 2016 to today might be termed the ‘Whatsappocalypse’. If the Online Safety Bill genuinely wants to make Britain a better place to live, it should start by banning MPs
Liz Truss is almost exactly the leader the country is desperate for. Britain needs someone to take painful decisions and even alienate voters in order to get growth going. Given that the next election is probably lost anyway, there is a case to be made that Truss should serve as the sin-eater for Conservative policy, implementing
With Jeremy Hunt installed as the representative Sensible and Penny Mordaunt answering questions in the House, Liz Truss has been reduced to politely cheering on the people actually in charge. Those in Westminster seem to think that her chances of leading the Conservatives into the next election are comparable to the chances of discovering Lord Lucan and
As the Labour party’s lead reaches 27 per cent or more, it would be easy to place the entirety of the blame on Liz Truss. That doesn’t mean it would be fair; the effort to alienate all but the most hardline tribal Conservative supporters has been a joint effort across 12 years and multiple prime
A pair of Just Stop Oil activists walked into the National Gallery this morning and threw tomato soup over Van Gogh’s Sunflowers. ‘What is worth more? Art or life?’, one of the demonstrators yelled as she glued herself to the wall. This isn’t the first time a work of art has been targeted by environmentalists. In July, eco-protesters glued
The Conservatives – in office since 2010 – are now into their fourth successive manifesto pledge to bring down immigration, which remains well over 200,000 annually. Naturally, Liz Truss is said to be weighing up increasing it further. Some of those in the Treasury believe that visa liberalisation is the quickest way to growth. From the Treasury’s
As a general rule, it’s worth remembering that Hollywood is in the business of mythologising, rather than retelling history. The Woman King, which was released in cinemas this week, represents the latest effort at constructing a past more in tune with 21st century progressive political narratives. In the film, King Gezo of Dahomey and his loyal
After 12 years in Downing Street, four prime ministers (so far), two monarchs, and one mini-budget, the public are starting to drop hints that it’s time for Tories to head home. As Conservative conference kicks off, it’s as good a time as any to take stock: what do the Tories have to show for their
The EU spent last November reinforcing its borders as Vladimir Putin directed a wave of refugees through Belarus towards the bloc. This winter, politicians in Brussels are once again preparing for another wave of asylum seekers caused by Putin – Russian men fleeing conscription. Baltic countries are taking a hard line. Estonian prime minister Kaja
