• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
    • Meet the Team
  • Contact us
TLE ONLINE SHOP!
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home Opinion

Boris, borders and Bolshevik bashing: The Tories are dragging the UK backwards

The Conservative Party conference was always going to be a festival of bad ideas. Consumed by Brexit, nobody expected anything new or innovative from the Tories. But rather than stick to the usual tired talking points, they seem to have hit upon a new plan: Resurrecting ideas that died decades ago. Boris Johnson furnishes the […]

Darragh Roche by Darragh Roche
2018-10-03 10:47
in Opinion
FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

The Conservative Party conference was always going to be a festival of bad ideas. Consumed by Brexit, nobody expected anything new or innovative from the Tories. But rather than stick to the usual tired talking points, they seem to have hit upon a new plan: Resurrecting ideas that died decades ago.

Boris Johnson furnishes the usual apposite example. On the fringe of the conference, Johnson gave a Red-baiting speech that would have made Ronald Reagan proud. He even name checked Arthur Laffer, Reagan’s favourite economist. Johnson talked about ‘job creators’ and worried aloud about the threat from a Labour government.

The former foreign secretary got in his usual erudite references, even recruiting the Arab historian Ibn Khaldun for trickle down economics. In Johnson’s expansive reading, it’s a pity he didn’t read Joseph Stiglitz’s recent article on income inequality. If he had, he may have reconsidered his stalwart commitment to Laffer’s discredited theories. He may have learned that demand, not rich people at the top, creates jobs. And he just might have realised that Theresa May’s post-Brexit economic policies will only make inequality worse.

While Johnson stopped short of denouncing Labour as Bolsheviks, the government he once served has just endorsed policies that would make Karl Marx baulk. Theresa May wants the UK to have the lowest corporation tax in the G20 after Brexit, with ‘smart regulations’. What she means is deregulation. This desperate appeal to multinational corporations will now be coupled with the end of free movement. As Stiglitz points out, free movement of capital without free movement of labour tends to lead to lower wages, more deregulation and less union bargaining power. If getting a deal with the EU is hard, wait until the British economy depends on corporate executives with an acute case of short-termism.

In this new Gilded Age of the tech barons, May wants to turn the UK into a corporate bordello. But the regression doesn’t stop there.. The first minister of Northern Ireland, Arlene Foster, whose government hasn’t sat for 20 months, suggested this week that the Good Friday Agreement could be changed to accommodate Brexit. This comes as Chancellor Philip Hammond said the UK will enforce the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland in the event of no deal. The cries of ‘Perfidious Albion’ are starting to grow louder.

Foster’s Democratic Unionist Party is propping up May’s government and it’s no surprise that she’s so cavalier about the peace process and the border. The DUP has never fully accepted the settlement and their unwillingness to negotiate a return to government shows their disregard for the institutions created by it. But the Irish (and the Europeans and the world) thought the British government knew better than to wave hard borders around. British personnel on the border, whether customs agents or troops, would be a step backwards and endanger the fragile peace that exists on the island.

For many of observers looking in from the outside, the Tories seem to be revisiting their greatest hits – all those songs from the 1980s that most people had forgotten. Boris Johnson’s embrace of voodoo economics, Hammond’s oblique threats of British troops on the Irish border, Northern Irish Unionists blithely undermining the peace process, prominent Tories regurgitating Cold War rhetoric about Labour socialism threatening national security and so on and so on and so on. Eighteen years into the 21st century and the Tories are acting like it’s 1983.

RelatedPosts

How the Bank of England’s zero interest rate policy has widened the wealth gap

Elevenses: The Fourth Estate

Elevenses: The Tractor War

‘Scam’ Cryptocurrencies and the ’looking glass’ world of finance

It’s easy to joke about the exaggerated rhetoric coming from the modern Conservative Party and we can laugh when a Tory minister makes a ludicrous reference to the USSR, but this is part of a broader trend. This is the Conservative Party that voted with Hungary’s government in the European parliament – a government that has spread anti-Semitic conspiracies, closed newspapers and gutted democratic institutions. This is the Conservative Party that sits with Poland’s Law and Justice Party, which has tried to undermine the independent judiciary. And this is the Conservative Party that refuses to hold a second referendum on Brexit, despite the lies and spending violations that occurred during the first campaign.

When someone shows you who they are, believe them. The Conservatives are showing themselves to be reactionaries who form alliances with those working to undermine democracy. From economic policy to accountability to international relations, the Conservatives are dragging the country backwards.

RELATED 

Boris Johnson has a long history of bad policies that make good headlines

Since you are here

Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.

Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.

Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.

If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.

To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.

The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.

The shop can be found here.

You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending on TLE

  • All
  • trending
Abdollah

‘Rescue us’: Afghan teacher begs UK to help him escape Taliban

CHOMSKY: “If Corbyn had been elected, Britain would be pursuing a much more sane course”

What If We Got Rid Of Prisons?

More from TLE

Wonga creditors get less than 5% of their claims

The Weekly Cocktail Recipe: Martell Mint Julep

Film Review: Wonder

Looking to exit the UK due to Brexit and thinking of moving to the US?

Record numbers complete Veganuary 2020 as new vegan products flood Britain’s high streets

Restaurant Review: Sticks’n’Sushi, Victoria

A 26-year-old packet of crisps is selling for a lot of money on Ebay

Nadine Dorries asked if her tweets would break her own online safety legislation

Lucky Numbers and Horoscopes for today, 26 January 2022

Clip of Ian Hislop pointing out extent of Russian money in Tory Party resurfaces

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Meet the Team
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.