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Choosing for oneself

by Giles Fraser 0

The values imparted by tradition, society and family make us what we are.

It seems extraordinary that with the launch of ResPublica, and David Cameron's very public backing, the fightback against the pervasive influence of Thatcher's radical choice-centred liberalism has been mounted from deep within the Tory party. Less extraordinary when one recalls that, for all her Tory fans, Thatcher was always more of a 19th-century liberal.

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Cameron goes Blond

by James Forsyth 0

Further ResPublica ideas endorsed by the Tories

The intellectual inspiration for this policy is Phillip Blond, the so-called Red Tory, who first proposed the idea back in July: 'Create a community right to buy. Allow local community groups to register an interest in a local eyesore or decrepit building, whether privately or publicly owned. For a fair market value, such legislation can allow local social enterprises six months to put together a funding package to turn a liability into an asset for a transformative local business.'

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The battle for the Tory brain

by Ed Wallis, The Fabian Review 0

Phillip Blond vs Tim Montgomerie

It seems serious scrutiny is finally shifting to what a David Cameron administration might look like. And not before time: the claim that the Tories are newly ‘progressive’ has been drifting in and out of the political consciousness for a while now,without it being immediately obvious what this is supposed to mean – either in policy terms or for party unity. Slowly some signals are trickling out. The rift within the Party on the NHS has shown that the truce between a reformist front bench and the wider Party may be more fragile than even Labour optimists hoped. Add to this the strident reaction from Tory traditionalists to George Osborne’s claim that the “torch of progressive politics” had been passed to the Conservatives, and it’s clear that the battle for the soul of the Party is far from over.

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