In a political era marked by uncertainty and deep polarization, The Conservative Party faces it 14-year reign ending with a landslide defeat come the next general election. I sat down with an anonymous Conservative party staffer, currently working for a Cabinet Minister, to get his opinions on the party, the state of politics, the upcoming election and other topics.
Rishi Sunak’s flagship smoking ban:
Traditional conservatism involves making small changes where necessary; but leaders in the party are going against this and pushing through more impactful legislation in the hope that it will benefit the next election. The smoking ban is a classic example of this, bodily autonomy is a fundamental conservative view. If you want to smoke it is your body and it is you’re right to do what you want with it. Secondly, government is all about balance. When considering putting a law in place, two questions must be asked. Is it a good idea and will it work on the ground? The smoking ban is just not feasible, in a few years’ time shop keepers are going to have to tell the difference between a 57 and a 58 years old. Is that realistic?
His party’s immigration policies:
No one has the god given right to come here. It is not compassionate to let an infinite amount of people come into this country. Immigration was net up 760’000 up last year. The NHS, schools and the housing market cannot cope with this increase. We must identify the needs of our economy when it comes to immigration, we don’t need more unskilled labourers. Immigration has now become a net drain on the economy which is not fair on the people of Britain. Money getting sent via remittance payments to other countries is not beneficial to us here. I don’t care what country you’re from but it’s a question of what you can do for us. The government should put policies in place so that each migrant is net beneficial to our economy, not net neutral or net detrimental.
The NHS:
The current party approach to the NHS is misguided. We are spending more than any other government has before on it, the problem is inefficiency not funding. The party currently does not have the courage to make hard decisions regarding the NHS due to the unpopular nature of those policies. I believe we need to make a move towards a hybrid system of healthcare like Germany. People should be able to pick the plan which works for them. Young people do not have the same health needs of old people. A system where the lower your income, the more the government contributes to your healthcare would work well. I don’t want an American style system where you must pay hundreds of pounds for a check-up, but we are not being compassionate by endlessly throwing money at the NHS.
The Israel Gaza conflict:
My opinions on this topic are that it is exceptionally nuanced, it’s not as simple as If you aren’t pro Gaza, you are pro genocide. We must continue to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza, whilst curtailing Israeli action towards Palestine. However, we must not aid Hamas. Our job here is to protect British interests, we must make sure that the situation doesn’t spread. We are liaising with countries that we have strong diplomatic ties with us such as Egypt and Jordan to do so. We will do what we can, but our priority is to look after number one.
The war on drugs:
In the war on drugs, drugs have won. I am pro the legalisation of recreational drugs. However, drugs such as fentanyl the government should have the right to seize. Those type of drugs are often used by people who are not making sentient choices, people should be making an informed decision when they take a substance. The two biggest funders of global crime are prostitution and drugs, both should be legalised. No countries have affectively cracked down on drugs other than countries such as Singapore and the UAE where they have extremely harsh punishments. However, that punishment does not fit the crime.
How to address London’s high crime rate:
We are now a low trust society. In Piccadilly circus in the 1970s, there was a pot for people to buy a newspaper that was unmanned, people would pay and get their own change. Britian has traditionally been a high trust society, but we have lost that. The process of building this back up will be very difficult. We now view other people differently. If people viewed other people as equals, they would not steal.
On the high crime rate amongst black youths in London:
They feel like they have been adversely affected by the system, they feel they are poor because other people are rich. I don’t believe that’s the case. It’s not good to tell a young child on a council estate that they their life is bad because the people in the penthouse across the street are doing well. The logic that follows this is, why should I not take their phone? It’s their fault that I’m poor. Recently there has been change in the discourse around crimes such as shoplifting. People have become apologists for it which is incredibly dangerous. If we say that its ok to steal, then we are putting it on individuals to make the choice on whether they steal or not. There is no ethical stealing.
On how to tackle this:
One thing we must do is reassert universal values. People who come from other countries in the world must be assimilated into our values. It’s not the fault of an immigrant who comes from Somalia that they do not have the same cultural values as us when it comes to topics such as property rights. But they must be assimilated when they get here.
On traces of drugs being found in The House of Commons:
Hypocrisy is always a bad thing; the Westminster bubble is a very real problem. A few MPS do think that they are above the law. Some are great but others live in la la land. The status has gone to their head and are they are detached from reality. I find that the MPS who go outside and talk to their constituents on a regular basis are the most virtuous, they act in a way that doesn’t remove themselves from the people who elected them.
On standards in Westminster:
Standard in Westminster have no doubt slipped. What used to be resigning matters are now just tomorrow’s newspapers. News comes out so quickly, that the stories blow up but are gone just as quick. The industry advise is always to wait these things out. David Cameron received a lot of bad press when he resigned, now he’s come back and was named front bencher of the year for 2023.
On the impact of social media on parliament:
Hansard has noted that the average length of a speech is now ten percent of the length it was 70 years ago. Nuanced debate around topics was commonplace before but now there is not the time for that. During PMQS, separate MPs will now make the same point three times to get their own clip to garner support on social media.
On transgenderism and the use of pronouns:
Adults should be entitled to do what they want with their bodies; children should not be able to make these decisions. I don’t believe in transgenderism; I don’t believe a man can be a woman or a woman can be a man. I do think we need to stem the cultural flow of it. But I don’t, however, wish any ill will to those people, I want them to be happy and live productive lives. My view is the mainstream one on pronouns, if someone asked me to refer to them as different pronouns then I would out of politeness. This however should not be mandated by law.
The next election:
We are facing electoral oblivion, but I do believe that we will recover by pushing through the next generation of sensible compassionate right wingers.
On patriotism:
This is one of the best countries to live in, in the world. If you say patriotism to a lot of young people, they instantly think of the EDL. We need to come up with a broader view of patriotism, you can be a quiet patriot or a loud one. There will always parts to work on regarding this country, but there is also stuff we need to keep. There is much more good than there is bad. This is a safe prosperous quite forward-looking country; people must appreciate and buy in to protecting these values.
How to increase patriotic sentiment:
The government needs to have a universal view of what it wants. No one has put forward a strong clear view of what this country should be. Do we want it to be a melting pot? An industrious nation? A centre of innovation? This must be decided. The British people need something buy in to. Because as it stands, they are not buying in to this country.