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In the early Thatcher years, Conservatism was perhaps the most intellectually dynamic force in UK politics. Instead of scrapping universities, Scruton might ponder how it became so hollowed out that it has not produced a single major thinker since. THREAD thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/r…
2. In its early years, Thatcherism teemed with ideas. The party became a magnet for historians, philosophers and economists - some converts from the radical Left - who hammered out their ideas in think tanks, discussion groups and Scruton's own journal, The Salisbury Review.
3. Thatcher herself was no intellectual, but she understood the power of ideas. She read Hayek, Dicey and Fukuyama; she held seminars at Chequers; she attended the Conservative Philosophy Group & argued with Enoch Powell. Keith Joseph toured universities arguing for Conservatism.
4. Yet now it's all "scrap universities", "f**k business" & "had enough of experts". David Cameron's "heroic incuriosity", content "to drift along behind the conventional wisdom of his ‘set’", has degenerated into an outright celebration of ignorance. gladstonediaries.blogspot.com/2016/06/the-ca… 
5. How did this happen? The end of the Cold War probably played a part, with its false confidence in "the end of ideology". Secularisation, too, made conservatism less likely to think seriously about theology or the higher purposes of politics beyond markets and electoral success
6. As @TheEconomist recently noted, the intellectual energy of British politics is now all on the Left. Like Thatcher, John McDonnell wants to reshape the very assumptions of UK politics. Meanwhile, Tory leadership hopefuls do photoshoots in their kitchens economist.com/britain/2019/0…
7. Historically, it was never true that the Conservative Party was "the stupid party" (though some treat that as an aspiration). If it's to survive as a major party, its crying need is not to close universities but to open its mind - as all its great leaders have done before. END
