There is I think something deeply shameful about the Tory Leadership election.
Apart from a fundamental failure on my part to understand why anyone can actually be a Tory????
Or why they can justify being in hoc to capitalisms task masters?
Or how a few thousand Tory voters can elect a Prime Minister without a general election?
Not one of the candidates has accepted responsibility for the mess we’re in and which has been made by the party they want to lead?
Not one apology, not one new idea, just a rehashing of failed policies.
All the candidates agree that we are in a mess economically, socially and politically yet not a single one is prepared to accept responsibility for the mess that their party and their government has created.
Two of the candidates were senior members of cabinet as Chancellor and Foreign Secretary yet inflation is at an all time high, there is a cost of living crisis and Europe is at war with Russia.
Two of the candidates want to remove the commitment to net zero emissions by 2050 despite appearing in a debate when temperatures across the world have broken records, Europe is on fire and as we saw on the news even the UK is burning.
Not one candidate appeared to recognise that the austerity which has been imposed on the UK since the beginning of the Cameron premiership is completely responsible for the cost of living crisis now facing the population at large, not just those on benefits but those in work including Nurses, Doctors, Paramedics, Fire Fighters and the Police
The press reports following Boris Johnson's resignation all attest to the dishonesty that has characterised his premiership, indeed in one debate not one single candidate indicated that they would be prepared to have him in their cabinet if they were elected, but again no firm statements about the need for honesty in politics.
It is not just disappointing it is shameful.
The current system means that, as with Gordon Brown, a small number of Conservative party members (160,000) will effectively appoint our next Prime Minister and as one candidate reminded his colleagues at some point the electorate will pass judgement on their ability to move both their party and their country on, away from the disaster of the last three years.
So what should we be demanding?
Well I for one would like to hear the Tory hopefuls (or the Labour Party) propose at least three policies:
Universal Basic Income - this admittedly radical idea which has been road tested in a few countries but which has yet to be rolled out in any would effectively turn the benefit system on its head and whilst it is a costly policy on the face of it and whilst some could choose to live on the income provided by the state, to become poets, musicians, dreamers most would continue to work and so as their income grew from a combination of UBI and employment so tax revenues would increase and indeed many who would wish to to but can't afford to take the risk could use UBI as a basic income whilst starting their own business.
A welcome for refugees - When I lived in Bradford I coined the phrase 'the future becoming of British Society' Such a change in the hearts and. minds of people depends on a more welcoming recognition that people coming to live in our society are people who brings gifts, skills, attributes that we as a nation require in order to prosper and flourish. One of the good things about this leadership contest is that there is only one pale male candidate.
I only have one example to offer (I am an unapologetic Man U supporter after all).
Zidane Aamar Iqbal (born 27 April 2003 in Manchester) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Manchester United and the Iraq national team.
His parents are from Iraq and Pakistan but as he himself says he is English part of a new and emerging generation of young people who call the UK home and who contribute significantly to its future prosperity.
One of the leadership candidates, whose politics I don't share and who has now dropped out, is from Nigeria, her parents were a GP and teacher respectively, she articulated this especially well when she described how she chose to come to England aged 16. (Her references to flipping burgers was a little overdone!).
A fair taxation policy - The British taxation system is simply no longer fit for purpose. So let’s start with the Times Rich list. It is absolutely crucial for the well being of society that general taxation is levied fairly and equitably. the view that a small state and lower taxes contribute to society is simply wrong headed. One of the candidates who proposes this attracted a comment in a newspaper article recently, does she want to scrap the Police and give everyone a gun so that the can shoot criminals themselves?
From Education, Policing, Healthcare the state provides a network of support that, certainly in the early post war years attracted the claim 'from the cradle to the grave'. I write as a member of one of the more fortunate members of the post war 'baby boomer' generation I even think that a former Tory Prime Minister was not far wrong when he claimed 'we've never had it so good'.
From the milk that Thatcher snatched, to the free education, the grant for college, to child care, health care and now care in retirement with a reasonable pension I am and have been privileged. But it had to be paid for and not only by the taxes I paid as a relatively modest earner but by the taxes that others paid proportionate to their income and wealth.
As a lifelong member of the Labour Party I am aware that some of what I am proposing needs to be urgently embraced not only by the Tories but by the Labour Party.
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