The task of changing public opinion falls to the wider conservative movement – to pressure groups, think-tanks, columnists, and associated auxiliaries. The trouble is that, at the moment, most of the people in those categories are training their fire on the Conservative Party.
Even before the latest Hinkley Point setback, this target looked nigh-on impossible deliver. Analysis has suggested it is right at the edge of what is possible.
A remarkable amount has been achieved. Often against the odds and in the face of adversity. And certainly in circumstances far less benign than those faced by New Labour.
Such “culprits” may exist, but the issue looks much more like one of systemic failures. We need to address those issues if we want to ensure and sustain fairness and equality of arms in our criminal justice system.
This will not be the last scandal to come to light and, given the impact of ITV’s drama, other scandals may get similar television treatment. The contaminated blood story would make searing viewing.
We hurl abuse at here-today-gone-tomorrow politicians and their advisers, while the permanent state flourishes like a green bay tree.
Some projects that had previously been announced were included, as were some projects that had even been completed. Some of the announcements related to local projects for which the decision to proceed rested with regional mayors not central government.
The effect of the train strikes on attendance, the trauma of recent years, and the change in the nature of the Tory Conference itself leave the question hanging.
He may have less than a year, as Parliament returns and his Party’s conference looms, to persuade voters of his case – which he has scarcely even begun to make.
In his Parliament of Whores, PJ O’Rourke gave one section the stirring title “Our Government: What The F*** Do They Do All Day And Why Does It Cost So Goddamned Much Money?” But as my research confirmed in various ways, most voters do not see government primarily as an expensive nuisance.
There are many things that can be done to resist the tide. The first would be for ministers to make the philosophical case for where state responsibility ends, and personal responsibility starts.
The A list and its successors haven’t kept a golden generation out of Parliament. Many of those who might have made it up aren’t putting themselves forward for selection in the first place.
The UK still a country prioritises freedom. But its citizens are far more deferential to the state than their American cousins – and the language of freedom is far less ideological and far more personal.
We kick off a ConservativeHome project on strong families, better schools and good jobs today – indispensable means of achieving a smaller state and a stronger society.
The sovereignty of Parliament, as the representative of the people, has been eroded, and power handed to an increasingly assertive bureaucracy.