Labour could cause irreversible damage in government - don't give them that chance
If I were an impartial foreign observer looking on from afar, this would be a very exciting general election to follow. Huge change is afoot; a new party has entered the race; an historic shakeup of Parliament is on the cards.
But I am not an impartial observer.
Firstly I am a candidate fighting for my seat, and like all sitting MPs, the outcome of this election carries huge significance for myself and my family. But far more importantly, I am not impartial because I am British and I love this country. I care deeply about our economy, and our wonderful heritage, culture and traditions and about whether or not they will remain intact for my children and grandchildren to enjoy. The prospect of a Labour government with an enormous majority therefore fills me not only with dread but also deep sadness.
I fear the cultural and constitutional destruction that an unopposed Labour government would gleefully deliver
I am deeply uneasy about the economic consequences of a hard left Labour government that will raise taxes for ideological reasons, rather than for reasons of necessity. The Labour Party has a ‘more please’ attitude to public debt that will saddle future generations with inflation and hardship. Keir Starmer has said he will enact the socio-economic duty of the Equality Act, a mandate for public services to discriminate on the basis of someone’s perceived wealth or social class. This is socialism enshrined in law; what will be the incentive to work hard and provide for yourself or for your family if the state then pushes you to the back of the queue?
We should all be alarmed at the prospect of neo-Marxist activists and unions demanding their pound of flesh, disrupting and dismissing ordinary people’s lives in their pursuit of radical ideological agendas.
But even more seriously, I fear the cultural and constitutional destruction that an unopposed Labour government would gleefully deliver. Labour’s manifesto promises to decimate the House of Lords, which is an important part of our constitution and provides a vital link between our past and present. Our democracy will be weakened by the transfer of even more power to the judiciary with further erosion of parliamentary sovereignty. A Labour supermajority would supercharge divisive diversity legislation, and likely oversee an end to freedom of speech and religion as we know it and attempt to criminalise parents who try to protect their children from gender ideology. And plans to take control of the curriculum will stamp out any patriotism that’s left in our schools. By the time of the next election, there may be little left for conservatives to conserve.
If polls are correct, Labour are on course to win the general election tomorrow. But there is an enormous difference between a Labour government with a small majority and a one with a large or ‘supermajority’ when it comes to the damage that can be done.
If there are enough conservative-minded MPs returned to Parliament to provide serious opposition to Starmer‘s plans, then it will be possible for a body of experienced and committed parliamentarians to slow or reduce the damage. But if this country is left with just a handful of truly conservative MPs — whether they are members of the Conservative Party, the Reform Party, the DUP or any others — then the sheer weight of numbers on Starmer’s side will mean that resistance is futile.
I don’t think Nigel Farage and Reform really understand the consequences of such an outcome. Farage is, of course, an outstanding communicator, and has successfully driven home his message for years through the media. But when it comes to legislation, it doesn’t matter how good you are at talking, it’s one member one vote. And Reform will be lucky to get a handful of seats in Parliament, even if they outperform the most generous of expectations. The kind of constitutional damage that Labour can wreak with such unchecked power will never be undone, no matter how successful Nigel Farage may or may not be in reshaping the centre-right in this country.
How would a future government reverse the giving of votes to 16-year-olds? Or undo the socialist redistribution of hard-earned ordinary people’s money? The only way to avoid a supermajority, and the end of Britain as we know it, is for conservative voters to back conservative candidates.
Many people reading this are understandably angry or frustrated with the Conservative Party
I hear many people say that they want independent-minded politicians who are willing to stick to their principles even if it means sometimes speaking or even voting against their party. But if this is what people want, then it follows that they should be willing to vote for MPs who have stood their ground and proven their conservatism. If we don’t support principled politicians with our votes, how can we expect to find — and keep — good MPs? While the Conservative Parliamentary Party as a whole may have disappointed voters on issues such as immigration and fighting woke radicalism, there are plenty of individual Conservative MPs who have stood their ground on these issues. If your Conservative candidate is one of those MPs then vote for them; the country needs them in Parliament.
Many people reading this are understandably angry or frustrated with the Conservative Party. The divisions between liberals and conservatives in the Parliamentary Party have made it politically impossible to deliver key conservative policies such as reducing immigration and repealing Blairite legislation. But it is too simplistic to say that the Conservative Party is just not conservative enough and needs to be punished. Reasonable people will acknowledge that there are many Conservative MPs that have stayed true to conservative principles, whether or not that has put them at odds with CCHQ.
We don’t have long to wait to find out if the polls are correct. But it’s not too late to prevent a disastrous period of unaccountable and unchecked socialist rule. If you care about the future of our country, I urge you to set aside your anger about the past and cast your vote for the future.
In the privacy of the polling booth, voters consider a range of factors. Which candidate has the best local record? Which party leader is the most compelling? Which manifesto is the most appealing? But we must also consider how to vote in the national interest, and right now, that interest is best served by returning as many principled conservatives to Parliament as possible.
