Delivering progressive ends by conservative means<br />

Jenny McCartney’s column in the Sunday Telegraph today pinpoints the key flaw to the Labour project: in its drive for equality, it produces inequality. This apparent paradox is the regular consequence of left-wing politics world over: the best of intentions produce the worst of results. There is now enough data on the 11 years of the Labour Project to show its failure on every important yardstick. Employment figures: a mirage created by immigration. Economic boom: a mirage created by debt. NHS performance: dismal, for the money injected. Education: Britain hurtling down the international league tables in absolute and relative terms. Defence: let’s not go there. But it is in social justice that Labour’s failure has been the most profound and unforgivable because if Labour is not for the poor, then who is it for? Labour’s supervisory approach to poverty has failed, and the Tories will have to approach this problem with fresh thinking and vigour.