The Danes ration choice, the French ration equality, and the Swiss ration time. In the UK we refuse to ration all three – meaning we must instead ration graduate’s wages, because nobody will talk about what an alternative to tuition fees actually means.
And if most politicians use the attention their office brings to exercise power, Trump is different. He uses the power of the office to command attention.
Conservatives believe in something simple but fundamental: uphold the law. Punish crime. Support the police. Because when streets are safe, everything else becomes possible.
Banning an evidently popular politician risks a backlash, but failing to do so risks the government being taken over by someone under the influence of a hostile foreign power.
This is not a dispute on policy but on priorities, and I suspect Thatcher herself might tell you that the contemporary Conservative version of the ancient Japanese rice festival is emblematic of the wrong one.
Globally there is one incumbent who not just won a convincing re-election but whose performance in that re-election has proven frankly masterful. Who is it? Ursula von der Leyen.
The PM laid claim to Tory “pragmatism” and became Meloni’s new best friend in the struggle against “irregular migration”.
Could our Conservative Party go the way of these others? Yes, it is possible. But all the requirements are not currently in place. The clock, however, is ticking.
Lawyers’ jaw-jaw from the safety of the Hague had not made a jot of difference to the course of the war in Ukraine. What has helped is the practical military support of Britain under a Conservative government.
Four, deep-rooted currents in are carving out space for movements which seek to prioritise the interests, the culture, the values, and the ways of life of the majority group against what they see as self-interested, corrupt, narcissistic, and incompetent elites.
Again, it is undecided voters who are more hawkish on immigration. The issue’s high salience with swing voters is why it will be an important battleground in the next election.
This European “nationalism” could well produce a considerably more populist EU. Whether that would be good for the UK is another matter.
The Government needs as broad a coalition of voices as possible to tackle the fissure opening up in our constitution and public life.
The Labour Government seems unbothered that the UK is losing its biggest taxpayers but capital exodus is contagious and will harm the whole country, including the middle class and the poor.