This post was mentioned on Twitter by DJSkelton: New PLATFORM 10 Blog: A Defence Of Red Toryism http://www.platform10.org/2009/11/a-defence-of-red-toryism/...

Now let’s not get started on that one.

I thought Alex Massie had the best take on Red Toryism.

http://www.spectator.co.uk/alexmassie/5576011/blond-and-liberty.thtml

On almost every social issue I would describe myself as a social liberal. The fact that my liberalism is a mix between positive (freedom to) and negative (freedom from) liberalism certainly doesn’t make it any less valid than yours. Nor does the fact that I wish to see the professions more representative of society make me a member of the “authoritarian left”. Indeed, my desire for real social mobility and the enhancement of the life chances of people from more deprived backgrounds is why I’m so enthusiastic in support of the wide ranging schools reform and ‘pupil premium’ that we are promising after the next election.

It seems we aren’t going to agree on the merits of Disraeli and Macmillan. Although I do judge them by their actions and their effectiveness as Prime Ministers.

I’m a strong believer in capitalism and the free market. I agree with you that it is the best way in which to achieve prosperity. But lets not pretend it is perfect. Lets not pretend that lack of adequate regulation had nothing to do with the global economic crisis. Lets not pretend that monopoly power isn’t an important issue in some sections of the economy. Regulation is over heavy in some areas, particularly on small business and, in other areas, particularly banking, it has been proven to be way too light. My point was that the free market should serve society and not the other way round.

Regarding the mines and other closures in the Thatcher years (and also, as you rightly say, beforehand as well), my point was that the closure of the industries that dominated towns has had the effect of losing a glue that held certain communities together. Even Norman Tebbitt agrees with me on this. As he said a few months ago, “The scale of the closures went too far…There is no doubt that this led to a breakdown in these communities. Many were completely devastated, with people out of work turning to drugs and no real man’s work because all the jobs had gone.”

It would be going very off topic to discuss energy policy here but I would argue that we haven’t had a coherent energy policy in this country for much too long. An over-reliance on gas and oil (now imported from semi or slightly hostile nations) and a dash away from coal, surely brings with it risks in terms of energy security.

There is a lot of myth-making about the empathy of people like Disraeli and MacMillan with the working classes. They talked the talk but were as anti-meritocratic as every other patrician One Nation Tory. That is why my late father refused to switch from Labour to the Tories until Thatcher came along. He didn’t particularly love her but unlike MacMillan, she was a grammar school-educated meritocrat and she wasn’t a condescending and cynical old fraud.

Your wailing about “free market fundamentalism” sounds rather like “stop the world I want to get off.” We live in a very highly-regulated global economy, not some early nineteenth century laissez faire free for all. That global economy has radically improved the life chances of hundreds of millions especially in those former Third World nations which have embraced capitalism. Good luck to them. However, we in the UK will no longer be able to rule the roost as we did in the past; awarding ourselves large amounts of pay and perks for producing substandard goods and services. We will have to sing much better for our supper. Too much political criticism of globalisation is simply a demand for protectionism.

Your constant jibing at the one post-war leader of the UK who actually made a credible effort to put it back on its feet is tedious. I too come from England’s former industrial heartland. Thatcher made major mistakes but what would you have done differently? Are you proposing that we reopen the mines or steelworks? In any case, far more pits were shut under the Butskellite Consensus than were shut between 1979 and 1997.

Though – as David Cameron said at the launch today – we don’t agree on everything!