The conservative case against the Conservative Government

 



I belong to a lost tribe; Working class Scottish Catholic Socialists who hugely admire our Queen and don’t see much contradiction between being both monarchists and socialists for reasons too numerous to go into here. Other than to say, we’ve always known that having an un-elected family as head of state offers ordinary people protection against totalitarianism and that God Save the King was sung at Peterloo by those assembled in 1819.

As such, I’ve greatly enjoyed watching the recent series ‘The Crown’ which successfully manages to intertwine the story of Britain’s social history with the tale of Queen Elizabeth’s long and glorious reign.     

Despite the dramatic embellishments and liberties which have been taken with the regards to the reality of historical events, The Crown still manages to convey the essence of our relationship with the Royal Family over the last 70 years and their place in our lives.

For example, the (slightly inaccurate) episode concerning Michael Fagan’s attempt to make representation to the Queen by breaking in to the Palace, highlights the belief in an ancient direct relationship between crown and commoner which bypasses the aristocracy, the state and everyone else in between. Even though such attempts at petitioning the monarch don’t always end successfully for the commoners (Wat Tyler being a case in point)

The series also accurately (if not factually) conveys the idea that Margaret Thatcher wasn’t exactly a traditionalist or a friend to the establishment despite the pearls and handbags.

 

In reality, Mrs Thatcher acted against the British working classes on behalf of city traders, the nouveau riche, yuppies and the upper middle classes, while the Queen tried (in vain) to defend us from the worst excesses of Thatcher’s deregulation and privatisation of the Queen and country’s own nationalised industries.

 

Equally, The Crown shows us the way in which Mrs Thatcher seen no value in the shared common good of the Commonwealth so beloved by the Monarch.

Instead, Thatcher sees more value in pursuing international trade policies which seek only to maximize profit, including a shameful trade relationship with apartheid South Africa against the wishes of the Crown and Commonwealth.

 

Unfortunately, none of this is ancient history, the spirit of Margaret Thatcher lives on in the likes of modern Thatcherites like Jacob Rees-Mogg who, despite the double-barrel name, plummy voice, savile row suit, acts primarily in the interests of the free market and neo-liberalism, just as Thatcher did.

 

Indeed, a quick scan of Rees-Mogg’s own investments and business interests shows JRM to be simply another capitalist freebooter, posturing as a staunch defender of Throne & Altar.

 

Similarly, true traditionalists don't threaten venerable institutions such as the Church of England with disestablishment, whenever the Archbishop of Canterbury talks about poverty, just as the Tories have done.

 

Now we are hearing numerous Tory voices coming out en-masse to insinuate that the bullying case against Priti Patel is some kind of woke liberal conspiracy. Yet, civil servant complainers called things like Sir Philip and Sir Allan don’t sound especially Marxist to me?  

 

Rather, Conservatives are supposed to uphold the established standards of conduct and decency within our institutions, they are not meant to rip up the rule book like the worst kind of iconoclasts. Yet, this is precisely what the Tory Government are attempting to do, proving yet again these people aren’t ‘conservative’ in any meaningful sense.

 

Sure, we laugh at Trump but our own Government is also indulging in the peddling of post-truth; Priti Patel breaks the ministerial code and the PM simply says she didn’t. Yes, we mock Trump’s wall building nonsense, meanwhile our own PM announces the unnecessary spending of billions on the military, just as the country teeters on the brink of a colossal economic recession.

 

Worst of all, we see Boris risk the very existence of the United Kingdom with his characteristically reckless criticism of devolution in Scotland. Again, this is because the UK Government is populist one, uninterested in conserving things, too busy indulging in the same levels cronyism and chumocracy as Trump.

 

In reality, we are being sold a brand of deformed conservativism which doesn't protect the family, the environment, our institutions or our shared heritage, but instead goes to war over superficial nonsense such as blue passports and EU flags at Last Night of the Proms.

 

These are the descendants of the same self-interested ‘Whig’ class who brought us mercantilism, mills, enclosure and Corn Laws.  Whose first loyalty is, was, and always will, be to the market.

 

At various times in our long history, both the working classes and yes, even our old establishment institutions such as Church hierarchy and Royalty, have held in common a mutual dislike of a class which destroys community in favour of self-interest and individualism.

 

Perhaps this is explains why the Queen often had a better relationship with the likes of Harold Wilson and Jim Callaghan than she did with Margaret Thatcher and it’s also why, her Majesty will hopefully have a positive relationship with Sir Keir Starmer when the time comes, God willing. 

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