Power to the People!

I am a Conservative because, above all, I have a deep and passionate belief in personal freedom and personal responsibility. Deep-down that is what a thousand years of our English history and heritage have been all about. English common law, Norman Assize Courts, Civil War, the Bill of Rights, World Wars, the European conundrum – all of these define the people we are today – and the people we will be tomorrow.

Every bit of legislation, regulation or court direction chips away at our instinctive human freedom. Labour – and increasingly Liberal Democrats – see that as virtuous, for the common good, because they know best. The durability of Conservatism stems not from its attachment to specific causes but its respect for human nature. Over the centuries, Toryism has survived and prospered, even though its causes, from tariff reform to the empire, have passed into history, because there are certain durable qualities in our make-up to which it speaks.

Conservatives succeed because they recognise that when the vessels for their values are no longer seaworthy, those values must be carefully transferred to new carriers. Whenever we have forgotten our values or clung to outdated craft out of sentiment, we have been overtaken.

I am a Conservative because buried in my soul is a passionate dislike of coercion, conformity and collectivism. The inherent dignity of humans depends on the free exercise of our will, the noble freedom to open our minds and to fulfil our ambitions and potential. That is progress. Any imposition by government to curtail, corral or conscript for the sake of a greater good stifles the human spirit (even just a bit) and diminishes the good proclaimed.

I instinctively dislike the Left – which in England means Labour and Liberal Democrats – because of their inclination to curtail freedom. They just can’t resist banning things like smoking, smacking or hunting – negligent of the fact that each of those practices is already effectively circumscribed by social custom and voluntary action. No, law and regulation should be a carefully considered last resort, not a panacea.

Conservatives agree that it is necessary to make sacrifices for the common good – to raise tax for defence, police, health, education, social services – but our instinct is to promote freedom, law and progress. I will cast my vote for that and for a decentralising, democratic revolution – for power to the people. If you agree with our principles, please join our Party!

Observing the destruction Labour has wrought all around us since 1997; it doesn’t take many words to sum up a plan of action that strikes a chord with most people. We need school discipline, more police, cleaner hospitals, lower tax, controlled immigration, strong defence, safe pensions and progress in country life. If you agree with our agenda, please vote for us!