Civil liberties don’t carry as much traction as we might wish. And the Conservatives will carry the can for the Boriswave into the next election. Labour can easily finger them as soft if it appears they won’t give the state extra powers in Digital ID to tackle immigration.
The UK has the resources. Its universities, legal system, financial markets and cultural capital are assets which could allow it to punch far above its weight.
We may resent China’s methods, but it thinks seriously and strategically and can execute quickly. By contrast, Liz Truss’ attempts to reshape the UK were immediately cast as inherently destructive because they rattled short-term nerves.
Britain should ask what kind of business it resembles now. WeWork comes to mind, as successive governments seek only popularity, without any strategy for long-term profitability.
The Wrexham model shows the possibilities of treating towns as assets rather than state-dependents. Joseph Phua’s plans for King’s Lynn reflect that mentality.
Can economic liberalism exist without social conservatism? The most permissive societies don’t thrive economically. If the basis of capitalism is private property, one must feel secure in its ownership.
Instead of drawing on our national story, we’re embarrassed by it and instead compress our identity into a narrative barely older than Singapore’s independence. We’re a much older country with a much shorter memory.
The UK’s free ride for non-committed foreign capital stems from the same impulse that pays to house immigrants at the expense of taxpayers. Conservatism must prioritise its own citizens.
I’ve lived and worked in Singapore for almost three years. I started a business and a family here. I can understand why conservatives idealise the place.
If the West is always the villain and its institutions irredeemably corrupt, what exactly are we trying to preserve? Why not tear it all down?
Forsaking the gung-ho interventionism of the neoconservative era must not lead to drawing any false equivalence between Western military action and Russia’s imperial aggression.
Free speech and DEI are not minor culture war skirmishes. They are fundamental battles over power. The party must stop treating woke as a political game, hoping to win quick points over gender definitions.
The first sign of MAGA infighting holds big lessons for conservative parties with fresh coalitions. Rehashed Thatcherism is not popular nor feasible.
Governments need not be morally or religiously prescriptive in promoting marriage. Instead, it should be acknowledged empirically that the institution tends to benefit people.
Instead of instinctively dividing society into sinners (elites) and the saved (working people), populism needs to reach across divides. Resentment can spark a movement but only discipline and humility can sustain it.