Conservative Party of Great Britain - Essay Example

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A CONSERVATIVE? Conservatism is a term derived from the Latin word ‘conservare’ that means ‘to keep, guard, observe.’ Defined by Samuel Francis as “the survival and enhancement of a particular people and its institutionalised cultural expressions,” conservatism focuses on traditional values in the context of religion, culture, national beliefs and customs. In the U.K., the Tory Party pioneered British conservatism in the early 1800s, championing rural landowners, monarchy institutions, the Anglican Church and the family. In the wake of the industrial revolution, Sir Robert Peel formed the new Conservative Party in 1846 as a coalition of traditional landowners and the new industrial elite. Later, Benjamin Disraeli brought back the ‘one nation’ conservative idealised view of society. After a flurry of changes during the two World Wars (a liberal-Conservative coalition during World War I, and ‘Butskellism’ involving concessions to the Left’s socialist policies during World War II), the Party reverted to classical liberal economic ideals (including privatisation) under Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s. Following allegations that Thatcher had thrown traditional party consensus and philosophy into disarray, the Conservative Party is now trying to reorganise itself to present an attractive alternative to the Labour Party in the coming elections.1 Firstly, to be a Conservative means to believe that improving people’s happiness should be the prime target of government policies. This Conservative belief was well elucidated by Conservative leader David Cameron who recently said during a speech at the Google Zeitgeist Europe Conference that the focus should be “not just on GDP, but on GWB (General Well-Being).” The factors that determine General Well-Being are the 1: Conservatism: Wikipedia.org. attraction of localities, the quality of people’s culture and the strengths of their relationships.2 Secondly, to be a Conservative means to accept that a civilised society is a civil society in which people indulge in civil behaviour towards others. The importance of civility as a factor affecting General Well-Being has assumed vital proportions in view of the current alarming trends evident in the U.K. as disclosed by the shop-workers union Usdaw report - in 2005 there were 20,000 physical attacks by customers on shop workers, while verbal abuse by customers at shop workers increased by 35 per cent.3 Thirdly, to be a Conservative means to portray and practise (in the form of attitudes, decisions and daily actions) proper social responsibility thereby contributing to a good and responsible society. Self-help, rather than total dependence on authorities, is to be undertaken in various sectors. For example, parents accept it is their responsibility (not the school’s) to raise their children with the right values; neighbours accept it is their responsibility (not the municipal council’s) to safeguard one another and maintain order in their locality; and businesspeople accept it is their responsibility (not the government’s) to carefully consider the effects of their business decisions on society and the environment.4 Fourthly, to be a Conservative means to recognise and appreciate the primary institution that promotes personal and social responsibility: the family. It is vital to reverse the present Labour tax and benefit policies that punish couples that stay together. The detrimental effect of Labour policies in this context is well illustrated by a recent UNICEF report that named Britain as the worst among all developed nations as far as the 2: Make People Happier, Says Cameron: BBC News. 3: CAMERON, D. Speech – Civility and Civil Progress: Conservatives.com. 4: Ibid. well-being of children is concerned. Conservatives realise that parents who foster togetherness for themselves and their children, while striving hard to achieve a reasonable standard of living for the family, deserve to be rewarded, not penalised. Conservatives believe such rewards should be tax reduction and benefits like flexible working hours, childcare leave and better public transport that will enable parents to interact longer with their children.5 Fourthly, to be a Conservative means to uphold improvement of the working lives of people. Work-life balance and quality of working life are important priorities that should include facilities like job-sharing, flexible working hours, childcare leave and home working.6 Fifthly, to be a Conservative means to call for radical changes in the country’s welfare system. At present, Labour policy is to provide total material support to welfare recipients – a policy that is developing a generational system of dependence and unemployment while totally discouraging adulthood responsibility. The foreseen changes include encouraging social institutions and local organisations to undertake efforts to get people off welfare, and an improvement in Incapacity Benefit by providing incentives to encourage people to get off it and work.7 Sixthly, to be a Conservative means to envisage devolution of power and localisation by the government. The present lack of trust fostered by Labour should be replaced by encouragement of civic engagement. The logic behind this is when people are actively involved in something, feelings of personal and social responsibilities are instilled in 5: CAMERON, D. Speech – Civility and Civil Progress: Conservatives.com. 6: Make People Happier, Says Cameron: BBC News. 7: CAMERON, D. Speech – Civility and Civil Progress: Conservatives.com. them which in turn encourages more civil behaviour. Under the present Labour policy, a large part of taxpayer revenue is spent locally but not controlled locally (for example, the local County Council in Kent has control over just 10 per cent of total taxpayer revenue of 10 billion pounds each year). It is the Conservative contention that local authorities should be given more control to decide priorities (after consulting with local residents), such as provision of proper public health care, education and transport facilities.8 Seventhly, to be a Conservative means to view the NHS more favourably. In what marks a major departure from previous policies, Conservatives have adopted a more supportive attitude towards the NHS, with plans to even extend Labour’s foundation hospital scheme.9 Eighthly, to be a Conservative means to totally oppose racism in belief, thought and action. Conservatives believe it is totally wrong to accuse or condemn others on the basis of their race or colour. A Conservative will never indulge in behaviour like swearing in public, willfully failing to attend to elderly persons, or being discourteous to bus drivers and shop employees.10 Ninthly, to be a Conservative means to strongly support the fight against terrorism. The horrific events of the U.S. 9/11 and Britain’s own 7th July 2005 deadly transport system attack serve as warnings to everyone about a security threat on a new, unparalleled scale. A Conservative supports his Party’s neo-conservatism approach to terrorist threats that involves a practical appreciation of the volume of global terrorism threats, a firm belief that pre-emptive military strikes is a correct and necessary 8: CAMERON, D. Speech – Civility and Civil Progress: Conservatives.com. 9: WHEELER, B. Audacious Raid on Labour Turf: BBC News. 10: CAMERON, D. Speech – Civility and Civil Progress: Conservatives.com. retaliation, and in the long run, fostering freedom and democracy (even it involves regime change) is the best surety of U.K national security.11 Tenthly, to be a Conservative means opposing a foreign policy that automatically follows that of the U.S.A. Labour has done this especially regarding Iraq and Afghanistan that has led to public discontent with widespread calls for retraction of U.K. troop from those two countries. Conservatives believe the U.K. should not blindly follow the U.S. This stance is reflected in the results of recently concluded public polls: YouGov/Daily Telegraph (June 2006) reported 65 per cent of Britons thought U.S. policies made the world “a somewhat or much worse place to live in,” and ICM/The Guardian (July 2006) reported 63 per cent of Britons said the U.K. was “too close to the U.S.”12 Lastly, to be a Conservative means to exert maximum efforts to live up to the Conservative Party’s great emphasis on environmental protection, a position that earned it the tag as the ‘greenest’ in British politics (in a recent poll about which three persons as prime minister would be best suited to protect the environment, David Cameron scored 33 per cent as compared to 25 per cent for Tony Blair and 18 per cent for Gordon Brown). In the context of today’s real and alarming global warming crisis, environmental protection has assumed massive importance. A Conservative will do his or her best to ‘walk the talk’ like their leader David Cameron who travels to the House of Commons by bicycle, grows organic carrots in his garden and uses wind energy for most of his household’s energy needs. Conservatives are heartened to note the latest strong stance of their Party leaders who, with the slogan “Vote Blue, Go Green,” not only plan to give 11: Conservative Party Leader’s Speech on Foreign Policy and National Security: Guardian Unlimited. 12: GARDINER, N. British Conservatives Must Defend the U.S.-U.K. Special Relationship: The Heritage Foundation. environmental issues equal importance to economic and social policies, but also plan to fix mandatory yearly targets for carbon emissions.13 To be a Conservative in today’s U.K. is encouraging from the point of view of the coming elections. The changes proposed by the Conservative Party seem to have swayed voters in its favour, as is evident from the latest YouGov survey that polled 2019 adults between April 23 and 26 this year: 37 per cent predicted a Conservative Party win as compared to 32 per cent for Labour.14 13: MADDEN, P. Brit’s Eye View – Britain’s Conservatives Challenge Labour for Mantle of Greenest Party: Gristmill. 14: Tories Ahead of Labour in U.K. Poll: The Sunday Morning Herald. References used: ANON. 2007. Conservatism: Wikipedia.org. [Online]. Available: [29 April 2007] ANON. 2006. Conservative Party Leader’s Speech on Foreign Policy and National Security: Guardian Unlimited. [Online]. Available [29 April 2007]. ANON. 2006. Make People Happier, Says Cameron: BBC News. [Online] Available: [29 April 2007] ANON. 2007. Tories Ahead of Labour in U.K. Poll: The Sunday Morning Herald. [Online]. Available: [29 April 2007] CAMERON, D. 2007. Speech – Civility and Civil Progress: Conservatives.com. [Online]. Available: [29 April 2007] GARDINER, N. 2006. British Conservatives Must Defend the U.S.-U.K. Special Relationship: The Heritage Foundation. [Online]. Available: [29 April 2007] MADDEN, P. 2006. Brit’s Eye View – Britain’s Conservatives Challenge Labour for Mantle of Greenest Party: Gristmill. [Online]. Available: [29 April 2007] WHEELER, B. 2007. Audacious Raid on Labour Turf: BBC News. [Online]. Available: [29 April 2007] Read More

At present, Labour policy is to provide total material support to welfare recipients – a policy that is developing a generational system of dependence and unemployment while totally discouraging adulthood responsibility. The foreseen changes include encouraging social institutions and local organisations to undertake efforts to get people off welfare, and an improvement in Incapacity Benefit by providing incentives to encourage people to get off it and work.7 Sixthly, to be a Conservative means to envisage devolution of power and localisation by the government.

The present lack of trust fostered by Labour should be replaced by encouragement of civic engagement. The logic behind this is when people are actively involved in something, feelings of personal and social responsibilities are instilled in 5: CAMERON, D. Speech – Civility and Civil Progress: Conservatives.com. 6: Make People Happier, Says Cameron: BBC News. 7: CAMERON, D. Speech – Civility and Civil Progress: Conservatives.com. them which in turn encourages more civil behaviour. Under the present Labour policy, a large part of taxpayer revenue is spent locally but not controlled locally (for example, the local County Council in Kent has control over just 10 per cent of total taxpayer revenue of 10 billion pounds each year).

It is the Conservative contention that local authorities should be given more control to decide priorities (after consulting with local residents), such as provision of proper public health care, education and transport facilities.8 Seventhly, to be a Conservative means to view the NHS more favourably. In what marks a major departure from previous policies, Conservatives have adopted a more supportive attitude towards the NHS, with plans to even extend Labour’s foundation hospital scheme.

9 Eighthly, to be a Conservative means to totally oppose racism in belief, thought and action. Conservatives believe it is totally wrong to accuse or condemn others on the basis of their race or colour. A Conservative will never indulge in behaviour like swearing in public, willfully failing to attend to elderly persons, or being discourteous to bus drivers and shop employees.10 Ninthly, to be a Conservative means to strongly support the fight against terrorism. The horrific events of the U.S. 9/11 and Britain’s own 7th July 2005 deadly transport system attack serve as warnings to everyone about a security threat on a new, unparalleled scale.

A Conservative supports his Party’s neo-conservatism approach to terrorist threats that involves a practical appreciation of the volume of global terrorism threats, a firm belief that pre-emptive military strikes is a correct and necessary 8: CAMERON, D. Speech – Civility and Civil Progress: Conservatives.com. 9: WHEELER, B. Audacious Raid on Labour Turf: BBC News. 10: CAMERON, D. Speech – Civility and Civil Progress: Conservatives.com. retaliation, and in the long run, fostering freedom and democracy (even it involves regime change) is the best surety of U.

K national security.11 Tenthly, to be a Conservative means opposing a foreign policy that automatically follows that of the U.S.A. Labour has done this especially regarding Iraq and Afghanistan that has led to public discontent with widespread calls for retraction of U.K. troop from those two countries. Conservatives believe the U.K. should not blindly follow the U.S. This stance is reflected in the results of recently concluded public polls: YouGov/Daily Telegraph (June 2006) reported 65 per cent of Britons thought U.S. policies made the world “a somewhat or much worse place to live in,” and ICM/The Guardian (July 2006) reported 63 per cent of Britons said the U.K. was “too close to the U.S.”12 Lastly, to be a Conservative means to exert maximum efforts to live up to the Conservative Party’s great emphasis on environmental protection, a position that earned it the tag as the ‘greenest’ in British politics (in a recent poll about which three persons as prime minister would be best suited to protect the environment, David Cameron scored 33 per cent as compared to 25 per cent for Tony Blair and 18 per cent for Gordon Brown).

Read More