Dear John,
The polls have been clear for some time now. Through all of its policy failures and scandals, the Conservative party has utterly lost the trust of the British public. They’re trudging towards a historic electoral defeat, with some polls now predicting a 400+ seat landslide for Labour.
As an organisation dedicated to defending, strengthening and renewing democracy, we certainly won’t shed any tears over the demise of a government that has consistently undermined our democratic rights and made a mockery of political accountability. But that may not be the end of the story. There’s a very real danger that the current Tory pantomime will morph into a horror show if the party’s most radical elements – the likes of Truss, Mogg and Braverman – are the ones who decide where the party goes next.
With Rishi Sunak bracing himself for a tough loss at the next election, all the talk in the Tory Party is about what should come next. Key players within the party are jostling for position, courting the various factions, painting themselves as the unifying candidate, and, of course, denying all in public. Members of the so-called “Popular Conservatives” faction are brazenly calling for a “Truss-like” radical libertarian free marketeer…no doubt at the behest of their friends (masters?) at the Institute of Economic Affairs.
As the Conservative party collapses in on itself and its most extreme elements start to take control, two things become clear:
Our political system is desperately in need of a shake-up. If, after all the economic turnmoil we’ve been through in the last couple of years, the Conservatives think their best shot of winning an election again is going back to Trussonomics, something is very wrong indeed.
While far-right policies are likely to be defeated at the next election, those pushing them are very unlikely to leave the stage quietly. Backed by US billionaires and their international networks (and potentially supercharged by a Trump victory in November) they will continue to gnaw away at the national debate. They’ll patiently wait for an opportunity to strike, and, if Labour struggles to repair our utterly shattered country and the public become disillusioned, that opportunity may come sooner than many think.
The passing of this Conservative government is an opportunity not only to address the rot that has taken hold at the heart of our politics, but to set new standards and new ambitions for the future. Open Britian will not let that opportunity pass. We will continue to push for a revitalisation of politics that brings ordinary people back into the debate and puts fairness and accountability back at the centre of everything. We will continue our work to bring about a system that is resistant to the likes of Truss, Mogg and Braverman, one that genuinely serves the interests of ordinary people. We will continue to do so because it is the only way we will be able to get our broken country back on track.
