Charles Moore’s column in the Telegraph today rightly praises the Tories for their impressive election performance. But he also raises some issues which the party are going to have to think about.
1. How can a party that has “gone green” adjust to the fact that voters, increasingly short of money, hate green taxes – especially high imposts on cars – and long to put fortnightly refuse collections into what the Left, in other contexts, calls “the dustbin of history”?
2. How can a party that believes in the legitimacy of parliamentary government and the need to defend ourselves against terrorism put up with the ever-growing power of judges to strike down political decisions in the name of “human rights”?
3. How can the party’s strong new identification with the public services avoid being trapped into validating health and school systems which serve the pupil or patient so poorly?
4. And how can the party which does not want to mention cuts get ready to run a country whose public spending is out of control? While there are no easy answers to these questions, the party is—sensibly—not about to rip itself apart over them. Do let us know what you think the best answers would be in the comments.
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