No,you're correct, the Tories are definitely not Right Wing.
But I'm not sure what was "Right Wing" about Brexit ? And wasn't Brexit a decision made by the people directly in a referendum? Yes, the Tories (sort of) implemented it but many Tories were against it. And isn't asking the people directly through a referendum a rather Left Wing thing to do?
Surely,we should stop trying to shoehorn policy into these outdated straightjackets of "Left" and"Right".
The Tories strongly opposed Brexit as you point out. And there is a very stong and perfectly respectable left-wing supporting view of Brexit best articulated in old videos of Tony Benn and Peter Shore. Today's left gloss over that unfashionable perspective .... european socialism yay!
I have spent my entire life hearing the same lie about the Conservatives being "too right-wing" or "far-right". This constant and very public harping is entirely connected to the fact that, as Ed points out, it is the progressives that not only police the conversation but set the conversation too.
This not merely accidental or lazy. It is due to the fact that progressives dominate every institution including the ones that shape opinions and they need to cast the Conservatives (and, by extension, any even vaguely Conservative ideas) as "far-right" is to push the Overton Window relentlessly in their direction.
Furthermore, the response of Conservatives entirely plays into progressive hands. Rather like accusations of "racism", which always elicit a "not guilty" plea (thereby legitimising the accusation and egging on the accusers to go further). Similarly, trying to argue that the Conservatives are, when properly analysed, liberals does no good at all. The truth is irrelevant these processes; winning is all that matters.
So, the correct response is to openly and brazenly call for an explicitly and radically right-wing agenda and complain that the Conservatives are not going anywhere near far enough to meet it.
Great article again Ed. You have a knack for pulling together not just the contemporary errors, but those historical errors of former governments that most of us have forgotten about. It serves to ensure that the scales drop from our eyes if nothing else.
Instead of “a perception shared” in para 6, I would write “a myth perpetrated”. As you say later, the media have drifted way to the left of the general public.
It's kind of a horrific thought that it's the conservatives that destroying Britain the same way the left is doing to Canada. What in god's name is going to happen if/when the left does take over?
It's no different in the American presses, which has no shortage of "right wing" or "far right" labels for anything slightly removed from the center, whereas there's hardly any reference to "left wing" or "far left." Despite that the Biden Administration has been the most left wing and progressive administration in American history, far to the left of most voters, even many Democrats. Meanwhile criticism of the previous Republican administration includes that it did nothing but cut taxes.
American guy here. The Biden administration is not "far to the Left" of most voters (as a whole-- one can probably cherry-pick a specific issue where that is somewhat true). That is as nonsensical as the people across the pond screaming that the Tories are rightwing extremists. I can't speak to the UK, but in the US successful politics happens in a fairly narrow ideological band and even Donald Trump, if you ignore his drama-queenesque rants and raves, has not crossed that frontier.
I would also not categorize Biden's administration as "far to the Left", but with a couple of caveats. First, his commitment to transgenderism, culminating in appointments of transgender activists to administrative positions and throwing a transgender party on the White House lawn, is the most culturaly left wing moment in presidential history. Second, his administration is thoroughly committed to DEI, which is certainly far to the Left of most voters. On economic and foreign policy and on policing, Biden is a centrist.
The phrase was "Far to the left of the voters". On both trans issues and racial justice issues there are huge numbers, though still a minority, of people who agree with Biden or are even more liberal. His administration is to the left there but not that far from the center of public opinion.
The scale of the Biden administration spending far exceeds any prior administration to the point that it is staggering. The administration's stances on sex/gender issues is distinctly to the left of the clear majority of the voters. Its attempts at forgiving student loan debts is a left wing position. The administration's not so secret embracing of censorship in the name of "misinformation" certainly places it on the left wing side of the liberty spectrum. The appointing judges and officials on identity politics rather than competence is a left wing position. Its position on DEI and A
affirmative action is also to the left of most voters. The administration's default embracing of an open borders policy is sharply to the left of the clear majority of the voters. There's no shortage of news commentaries in the US talking about how Biden's policies are largely driven by young, left wing policy advisors who are to the left of even the party as a whole, and the same people are now worried that these policies are going to cost Biden the reelection. Biden's poor approval ratings is surely a reflection of the administration being to the left of the country.
By the standards of American governing and embracing of activist governing, it is a far left administration. When measured against, say, Venezuela, then certainly it is not a far left administration.
I don;t want to threadjack here, but you comment is a classic example of what Mr, West is talking about in the UK. Biden is not "Far Left" and Biden is not far Right. Both are well within the mainstream of their respective nations even if some people on the other side hate to acknowledge that. People out of the mainstream (of their particular electorate), have zero chance of being elected to high office. In the case of the UK that Mr. West highlights a lot of that critique is probably just deliberate propaganda but in your case I think you may be in an idelogical bubble and may not realize how much farther to your left the center of American politics is in the 2020s. It's not 1980 (or 1950, or 1850) any more.,
I'm not alone in again wishing for a rightwing government as it exists in the prog imagination. Whenever I read some parade of horribles regarding the re-election of Trump, I can only think "gee if only." Cthulu drifts let, unfortunately.
Politics is unable to fix the ongoing and permanent decline in living standards, as Labour are about to find out, and so the political class invents problems to justify its existence and which it can appear to fix but which mostly serve to exacerbate the increasing impoverishment.
As Geoff Norcott said, I don't regret voting for a conservative government, but I regret not getting one.
No,you're correct, the Tories are definitely not Right Wing.
But I'm not sure what was "Right Wing" about Brexit ? And wasn't Brexit a decision made by the people directly in a referendum? Yes, the Tories (sort of) implemented it but many Tories were against it. And isn't asking the people directly through a referendum a rather Left Wing thing to do?
Surely,we should stop trying to shoehorn policy into these outdated straightjackets of "Left" and"Right".
The Tories strongly opposed Brexit as you point out. And there is a very stong and perfectly respectable left-wing supporting view of Brexit best articulated in old videos of Tony Benn and Peter Shore. Today's left gloss over that unfashionable perspective .... european socialism yay!
I have spent my entire life hearing the same lie about the Conservatives being "too right-wing" or "far-right". This constant and very public harping is entirely connected to the fact that, as Ed points out, it is the progressives that not only police the conversation but set the conversation too.
This not merely accidental or lazy. It is due to the fact that progressives dominate every institution including the ones that shape opinions and they need to cast the Conservatives (and, by extension, any even vaguely Conservative ideas) as "far-right" is to push the Overton Window relentlessly in their direction.
Furthermore, the response of Conservatives entirely plays into progressive hands. Rather like accusations of "racism", which always elicit a "not guilty" plea (thereby legitimising the accusation and egging on the accusers to go further). Similarly, trying to argue that the Conservatives are, when properly analysed, liberals does no good at all. The truth is irrelevant these processes; winning is all that matters.
So, the correct response is to openly and brazenly call for an explicitly and radically right-wing agenda and complain that the Conservatives are not going anywhere near far enough to meet it.
Great article again Ed. You have a knack for pulling together not just the contemporary errors, but those historical errors of former governments that most of us have forgotten about. It serves to ensure that the scales drop from our eyes if nothing else.
thank you!
"Yet our fascist government endorses this idea [equality of outcomes]."
How is your dog doing?
(This is what I ask my oldest daughter every time she says "fascist.")
Instead of “a perception shared” in para 6, I would write “a myth perpetrated”. As you say later, the media have drifted way to the left of the general public.
It's kind of a horrific thought that it's the conservatives that destroying Britain the same way the left is doing to Canada. What in god's name is going to happen if/when the left does take over?
I do wonder if the Tory party liberal establishment will attempt to make it more liberal? After the defeat.
Of course they will blame their epic defeat on the ‘lurch to the right.’
“Give a man a reputation as an early riser and he can sleep 'til noon.” Mark Twain.
Likewise, 'give the Tory party a reputation as faschist and they can out-woke the woke'.
It's no different in the American presses, which has no shortage of "right wing" or "far right" labels for anything slightly removed from the center, whereas there's hardly any reference to "left wing" or "far left." Despite that the Biden Administration has been the most left wing and progressive administration in American history, far to the left of most voters, even many Democrats. Meanwhile criticism of the previous Republican administration includes that it did nothing but cut taxes.
American guy here. The Biden administration is not "far to the Left" of most voters (as a whole-- one can probably cherry-pick a specific issue where that is somewhat true). That is as nonsensical as the people across the pond screaming that the Tories are rightwing extremists. I can't speak to the UK, but in the US successful politics happens in a fairly narrow ideological band and even Donald Trump, if you ignore his drama-queenesque rants and raves, has not crossed that frontier.
I would also not categorize Biden's administration as "far to the Left", but with a couple of caveats. First, his commitment to transgenderism, culminating in appointments of transgender activists to administrative positions and throwing a transgender party on the White House lawn, is the most culturaly left wing moment in presidential history. Second, his administration is thoroughly committed to DEI, which is certainly far to the Left of most voters. On economic and foreign policy and on policing, Biden is a centrist.
The phrase was "Far to the left of the voters". On both trans issues and racial justice issues there are huge numbers, though still a minority, of people who agree with Biden or are even more liberal. His administration is to the left there but not that far from the center of public opinion.
The scale of the Biden administration spending far exceeds any prior administration to the point that it is staggering. The administration's stances on sex/gender issues is distinctly to the left of the clear majority of the voters. Its attempts at forgiving student loan debts is a left wing position. The administration's not so secret embracing of censorship in the name of "misinformation" certainly places it on the left wing side of the liberty spectrum. The appointing judges and officials on identity politics rather than competence is a left wing position. Its position on DEI and A
affirmative action is also to the left of most voters. The administration's default embracing of an open borders policy is sharply to the left of the clear majority of the voters. There's no shortage of news commentaries in the US talking about how Biden's policies are largely driven by young, left wing policy advisors who are to the left of even the party as a whole, and the same people are now worried that these policies are going to cost Biden the reelection. Biden's poor approval ratings is surely a reflection of the administration being to the left of the country.
By the standards of American governing and embracing of activist governing, it is a far left administration. When measured against, say, Venezuela, then certainly it is not a far left administration.
I don;t want to threadjack here, but you comment is a classic example of what Mr, West is talking about in the UK. Biden is not "Far Left" and Biden is not far Right. Both are well within the mainstream of their respective nations even if some people on the other side hate to acknowledge that. People out of the mainstream (of their particular electorate), have zero chance of being elected to high office. In the case of the UK that Mr. West highlights a lot of that critique is probably just deliberate propaganda but in your case I think you may be in an idelogical bubble and may not realize how much farther to your left the center of American politics is in the 2020s. It's not 1980 (or 1950, or 1850) any more.,
Brexit right-wing ?
Is preserving national democracy right-wing ?
Is saving a country from globalist technocrats right-wing ?
Is turning the clock back to the Dark Age horrors of,...well, 1973...revolutionary or right-wing ?
I'm not alone in again wishing for a rightwing government as it exists in the prog imagination. Whenever I read some parade of horribles regarding the re-election of Trump, I can only think "gee if only." Cthulu drifts let, unfortunately.
“unwelcoming nationalist rhetoric for Tory-voting audiences while in practice quietly expanding progressive domination”
The 2024 campaign slogan, right there 👍
It's funny how the Tory PR is only actually believed by Centrist dads and leftishist student types.
Politics is unable to fix the ongoing and permanent decline in living standards, as Labour are about to find out, and so the political class invents problems to justify its existence and which it can appear to fix but which mostly serve to exacerbate the increasing impoverishment.
Funny—and incisive.