A note against despair

[pseudomonas]

The Conservative party have some nasty policies, and have made some nasty promises, and a lot of changes could happen in the next parliament that are pretty grim — and certainly there are a lot of positive changes that are much needed and will not happen.

But we should remember that they have a majority (even before a single by-election) that makes Major's in 1992 look generous¹. And this is a party that still contains David Davis, Ken Clarke, Sarah Wollaston, Nadine Dorries, Peter Bone — all flavours of awkward squad, left and right (relatively speaking, anyway), authoritarian and libertarian, europhile and europhobe. A lot of the policies are going to end up watered down, or defeated, or quietly swept into a disused filing-cabinet. Putting the right pressure² on the right MPs to convince them might well help. Campaigning in whatever opposition party you're a member of³ to help the Conservatives see they can't count on their majority next time will certainly help. Joining organised pressure groups like the Open Rights Group, Shelter, and Liberty will certainly help.

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¹ There's a chance that on some issues the DUP / UUP / UKIP might come to their aid, yes. But all these parties are small, UKIP sees them as the enemy on a lot of things, and having to rely on the DUP may well require of them some unpalatable quid-pro-quos. There's also a chance that on some things - the Snooper's Charter, for instance, some Labour MPs will support them. This just means that there's a broader target that needs pressure (from within and without that party).

² I personally believe that the right pressure is often more "I'd be more likely to vote for you if you do X than if you do Y" rather than "OMG all Tories are evil scum" even if the latter fits the facts better. But y'know, maybe there's a good-cop-bad-cop routine in there or something.

³ As I've said in a previous post, I'm in the Lib Dems and I think you should consider joining and making the party better and stronger — but if you're better suited to another party, please help make that party better and more effective instead.


ETA: and there's always the House of Lords there as well…

Comments

[cjwatson]

It's worth noting that the UUP have traditionally been affiliated with the Conservatives and even took the Tory whip at various times, although there were also various instances of them splitting off in protest. The DUP don't have that history. When I was last in Northern Ireland the UUP would have been very much more likely to enter into an arrangement with the Tories, while the DUP were significantly more hardline. As the anonymous commenter above suggests, that may well have changed, particularly with the DUP having spent some years in devolved government.

[(Anonymous)]

When I was last in Northern Ireland the UUP would have been very much more likely to enter into an arrangement with the Tories, while the DUP were significantly more hardline

The UUP would have been more likely to enter into an arrangement with the Tories, yes, but the DUP would have been more likely to try to hold them to ransom, demanding big policy concessions in return for support.

In the New Politics, these amount to pretty much the same thing (well, except now public money counts as much as political concessions).