Interesting to see @jameskirkup try to argue that One Nation Conservatism is not yet dead in today's Times thetimes.co.uk/edition/commen…. Yet for all his valiant efforts, the article just refutes its own case as Johnson turns the Tories into hard-right English nationalists
He makes 3 key points. First, there will still be some decent moderate MPs. Of course. Few would dispute this. But far fewer since Johnson shows contempt for Remainers & drove out many liberal, pro-Europeans & pro-biz MPs - while all MPs must sign up to his vision of hard Brexit
Second, the Tories are relying on new voters in the Midlands and North who will not want deregulation. Again true - & I've written about the irony of these libertarian Brexiteers forced to swivel to statism to survive. But as we've seen before, the hard right can be very statist
The article ignores how the Tories under Johnson have reverted to anachronistic hardline crime politics under a home secretary that favoured hanging until recently. The new message is tough as possible on crime and ignore the causes of crime
And that the reckless Brexit policies pursued by Johnson and his cabal endanger the union in both Scotland and Ireland - which is hardly One Nation politics.
And that just yesterday we saw how far the party has shifted right with a hideous barrage of dog-whistle tweets and announcements on immigration. This is repellent to many moderate conservatives and business people (as opposed to the hedge funders backing Johnson who like chaos)
So the only real argument left is the third point - that Johnson may have created a hostile environment for moderate and liberal conservatives but he is so slippery, so unprincipled, so untrustworthy, that he could jettison the ERG hard-right now controlling the party.
I agree Johnson is dodgy, duplicitous & capable of doing anything as he creates a hostile environment for the 4 in 10 Tory voters that backed Remain and their parliamentary leaders. IMHO this is what makes him, like his pal Donald Trump, so unfit to lead his nation.
So the argument goes that Johnson's 'flaw is a lack of ideology' so moderates can pin their faith in a chancer with a track record of lying and so corroded by ambition that he always puts himself first. Not much of a rallying call for One Nation Tories, is it?
