To Rt Hon Kemi Badenoch MP
The Conservatives have been in power for more than a decade. In that time the party has presided over an unprecedented transfer of wealth to the corporate sector and deeply undermined trust in the function of government.
Nothing works. An entire generation has been robbed of opportunity. Almost everyone is poorer and paying more for less. Simply monetising services provided by govt and leaving the market to pick over the bones is not a solution. There are aspects of life where ministers must take responsibility for ensuring a just and equitable outcome for the majority of citizens. Government before political ideology.
Two things encapsulate the malaise in Westminster: One is lack of clarity as to how the Conservative party and its fellow travellers are funded. The other is the stream of lies and half truths intended to detract from true intentions.
Your party has pushed legislation through parliament that allows ministers to make changes without parliamentary scrutiny, powers unprecedented in peacetime. And the way you have constrained personal freedoms and the right to protest is nothing short of sinister.
You have imported political tactics from America and entrenched a new level of dishonesty and toxic tribalism into our politics. With little more than a year to go before a General Election we are witnessing desperate attempts to boost the party’s standing. It isn’t working. Nobody is forgetting the often repeated accusation that this is “the most dishonest, corrupt and incompetent government in British modern history.”
There is a continuing failure of integrity at No 10. Hardly a day goes by without yet another lie, or another minority group demonized for political gain, or another vested interest indulged at taxpayers’ expense. It has been a decade of decay. Will MPs ever be respected and trusted again? Will the electorate bother to turnout at the next general election?
Imagine for a moment what might happen if people felt their vote could make a difference. Not just a choice between the same stale and dishonest political parties but something new and inspiring that could restore integrity in politics and refresh the nation’s mojo. We can but hope.
This appears in our November 2023 newsletter