Dumbing down the Conservative Party
It appears that MPs are being encouraged to discuss fashion at next week’s party conference. Yes, that’s right, fashion. It’s a topic recommended by CCHQ in which ‘delegates might like to take an interest’. Paul Goodman at ConservativeHome notes that suggested topics for debate do not include the European Union. You see, the last thing CCHQ wants is for delegates (not representatives?) to ‘bang on’ about Europe. Good grief, no. And they probably won’t be encouraging discussions on planning, marriage, or HS2 either.All this is consistent with the Conservative Party’s ever closer centralisation of power. If MPs or candidates do not comply with the request to discuss ‘fashion’, no doubt they will be deemed to have manifested an inappropriate ‘manner’ or ‘attitude’, the consequence of which will be demotion to the bank benches or removal from the Approved List of Candidates. No longer are local associations free to select who represents them: CCHQ advances those it favours, and its mechanism for dividing the sheep from the goats is increasingly opaque. There is no openness, no accountability, and no appeal against arbitrary judgement. While David Cameron preaches localism, devolution, subsidiarity and democracy to the nation, his own party is dedicated to centralisation, secret bureaucracy and 'star chamber' justice.
Over recent months CCHQ have been culling their ‘Approved List’. His Grace has now been contacted by 28 of these ‘excised’ candidates, many of whom have been loyal party members for decades, including former local association chairmen and deputy chairmen, with impressive CVs of devoted service to their communities and a clear commitment to traditional Conservative principles. Some even fought seats in the 2010 general election, and managed to increase the Conservative share of the vote. It is noteworthy that 24 of these 28 have either written or spoken on ‘Europe’, expressing the view that our ‘relationship’ with the EU is not entirely in the British national interest. There’s not a lot CCHQ can do stop MPs ‘banging on’ about ‘Europe’, but they are omnipotent in determining the ‘type’ of candidate who is advanced.
Ivan Massow (portrait above) is on the Approved List of Candidates.
His Grace would like to remind his readers that Mr Massow was once a feted by the great and the good at CCHQ as the incarnation of everything the party purports to stand for: in 1999 he was even chosen to accompany Baroness Thatcher to a party conference. He then left the party over its intolerant attitude (as he saw it) to homosexuality. He caused immense damage when he defected to Labour, branding William Hague ‘prejudiced and ignorant’ and the Conservative party ‘nasty and intolerant’. He said Conservatives ‘chime with the most base values and claw away at national insecurities’. He accused the party of ‘stirring up prejudice and fear’. He then launched a self-indulgent quest to become Mayor of London, campaigning against the official Conservative candidate and in contravention of the party’s constitution.
Yet he is now, once again, an ‘approved candidate’ for the Conservative Party.
It is difficult to understand how someone could bring the Conservative Party into such disrepute and publicly insult the Leader, and yet remain somehow ‘approved’. Approved for what?
Judging by his portrait, perhaps he knows a thing or two about fashion. But one has to wonder why CCHQ appears to place no value at all on loyalty, discernment, knowledge, and personal judgement.
posted byArchbishop Cranmer at 9:05 AM Permalink
57 Comments:
It is gratifying to see that the party is rebuilding its bridges with those who left on a fundamental issue of rights and conscience, the party's tolerance of anti-gay prejudice. The summary removal by Mr Cameron of the appalling P Lardner during the last general election campaign was another encouraging example of how the party is re-connecting with modern progressive opinion. Well done Cameron.
Just wondering...why is the dog's face pixelated??? Has he an upcoming court case?
It appears that MPs are being encouraged to discuss fashion at next week’s party conference. Yes, that’s right, fashion. It’s a topic recommended by CCHQ in which ‘delegates might like to take an interest’
Oh praise be Your Grace! at last the Tories are getting to the nub of the real issues, yes Your Grace fashion should delight the senses, entertain the wearer and engage the viewer.
I despair the lack of sartorial elegance inflicted upon my senses in the modern world, zombies shuffling around in their pajamas,tracksuits,trainers, baseball caps and God forbid their despicable hoodies its a DISGRACE!!!
I`m still not voting for them though! ;)
Local Conservative party branches exist for one reason only, to raise funds. If they CCHQ didn't need money, they'd all be wound up.
This comment has been removed by the author.
Above and beyond the taxes they extract .. you mean people give money to this lot? And somebody actually votes for ... the puppets of the puppets?
Dear Loving God...... please send us Michael, the Archangel; somebody has to help us sort them out.
YG
What a truly depressing Party Conference season this is turning out to be.
The deaadful nothingness of the Lib Dem gathering which had only one saving grace. It helped with Ernst's insomnia.
A Labour Conference that looks like it's raison d'etre is
' It was nasty Gordon/Tony who were at fault, the Bicephalic 2 Ed's were not to blame for anything but we will be nicer, more caring and slower at delivering the very same cuts we denounced vehemently over the last 18 months. We will suggest policy but don't hold us to it come 2015 (Remember your Education Cuts, Mr Clegg..watch and learn from the true masters of deceit as to how it's done).
and the Conservative Conference on why
1.What you wear maketh the man/woman.
2.Being a former flatmate of education secretary Michael Gove (Flashman and the hound of the B'Stardvilles from the pic), might be a shoe-in for a crack at the House of Commons rather than belief in the party's existing ethos.
3.The immediate collapse of the Euro is not a reason to back off from the EU but to keep Britain sodding on.
Some forthright discussion of the real crises effecting our Nation might be of better use but hey, I am only a voter and taxpayer, what do I know?
E S Blofeld, Bah, Humbug, Pfitt etc, etc.
Was Mr Massow painted by Sargeant or De Lazlo, Your Grace?
For a twenty-first century candidate he seems not only Edwardian but out of touch.
Dave has yet to re-introduce hunting. Your communicant suspects that Dave is more a tennis party man and never really cut a dash at the hunt ball.
I suspect CCHQ were giving a silly answer to a silly question! I am absolutely certain that any and every topic of interest will be being discussed in Manchester next week. This is being blown up out of all proportion!
And why the metope from the Parthenon? Is the "portrait" an image of the chase and capture of cultural property?
Before we judge the topic of fashion too harshly, Your Grace - in what capacity was 'fashion' to be discussed?
The UK Fashion industry is very large, and a major source of jobs and export earnings. Some figures from the 2010 Value of Fashion Report:
"• The direct value of the UK fashion industry to the UK economy is £21 billion (source: BFC Value of Fashion Report)
• Fashion’s wider contribution to the economy in influencing spending in other industries is estimated to stand at over £37 billion (source: BFC Value of Fashion Report)
• The UK fashion industry is estimated to support 1.3 million jobs, equivalent 4.5% of total employment, and is the largest employer of all the creative industries. The sector also provides opportunities to minority groups to a greater extent than most other creative industries (source: BFC Value of Fashion Report)
• The UK Fashion industry is similar in size to the food/beverages services and telecommunications industries and bigger than the wholesale and retail of automotives, sports activities, chemical manufacture and advertising/video sectors (source: BFC Value of Fashion Report)
• Major export markets are USA, Japan, Russia, France, Italy, Middle East, Hong Kong, China"
I take Your Grace's point about centralisation, and the exclusion of other topics, but if the discussion concerns the Fashion industry then it is a perfectly valid topic, especially in the economic circumstances, and certainly not frivolous or trivial.
The figures in the report may be open to some questioning (I do not know), but they do suggest that the UK Fashion industry is a large and valuable part of our economy.
Integrity is key element that is missing from government and from society. Shifting ones belief values to meet the popularist pressures of the day will ultimately lead to disaster.
My attention is distracted by the alegorical painting. Is it customary, in England, to hunt severely deformed foxes with publicity-shy hunting dogs and climber's ice axes or to climb in ridig boots? Inquiring minds in the parvenu Colonies need to know.
Let them discuss fashion by all means. Perhaps they might care to examine their Emperors suit while they are about it. A more exquisite example of weaving and spinning would be difficult to find. Mind you, someone really ought to tell him it's a bit too revealing but style over substance is all the rage nowadays.
Avi.
Let's face it any self respecting dog connected to a fop like that would Have to remain anonymous.
Reminds me of the 'Flashman' books.
Dumbing down? What evidence is there that the Conservative Party has ever been anything other than dumb? They're just another mindless tribe.
The heir to Blair is just obeying his master's voice (again) and the real leaders of the party at HQ are doing what any self respecting Fabian group would do.
Namely create a group of like minded people to control the ex-Conservative party while keeping the name.
If you have a different opinion of such unimportant matters such as EU, Climate change, homosexuality etc. then you are just not allowed to join the group, i.e. you have nothing to say.
I am waiting for the "real" conservatives to start their own Conservative party. It is the only way to break the Fabian hold.
I feel sorry of all those poor, deluded, party tribalist souls who voted for Cameron in the forlorn hope he actually had some real policies in his back pocket and some intelligence and balls to back them up. I wonder if they still believe all the lies, broken promises and U-turns were nothing more than a ruse to confuse the opposition.
Fools.
It just occured to me that the current "conservative" party could be renamed the "pink conservatives" to avoid any confusion.
Owl said 26 September 2011 13:50
"pink conservatives", Mr Alan Duncan would approve!
Do you reckon DanJo would give it his seal of approval?
Oooh, I say.
E S Blofeld
Preacher : ''fop'' ? He looks more than a tad 'dinky-do' to me. Which surely is the entire point?
Old Harry Flashman wouldn't have given him houseroom; excepting perhaps, a seat near the fire. I reckon the durg is no better than it ought to be either.
Darter Noster said 26 September 2011 12:34
As the vast majority of UK fashion is manufactured abroad how will this help?
Where will the money come from for Joe and Joanna Bloggs to purchase them as the pockets are getting a bit threadbare old chap or haven't you noticed? Having a few squids helps, you know!
Maybe talking about the increased cost of living it's citizens must endure and kicking the doors down on the Energy/Oil Industry and having a look at their trading books might be better as putting to the top of an agenda!
Or do you not drive or heat your habitat?
E S Blofeld.
Where there is no vision the people perish.
Thank you, Mr Preacher, I was looking for a deep, convoluted mystical symbolism, but the simplest explanation always rules. On that principle, I'll give up on trying to decode the Centaur's presence and assume that Greece is already for sale on eBay and that your Mr Goodman has acquired a modest chunk of the Parthenon frieze for his country and his party.
E. S. Blofeld @ 14.44...
How will a multi-billion pound industry employing over a million people help the fortunes of the country? It's a poser, isn't it?
The actual stitching together of garments is the low-value bit of the industry, and therefore most of it has been exported to countries with far lower labour costs. The higher-value parts of the industry that remain - design, modelling, publishing, marketing, R & D, retail and other services - that remain make a valuable economic contribution and employ large numbers of people.
If most of our garments were still made in Britain, either the prices of such garments would be astronomical or the factories would need vast subsidies, giving Joe and Joanna Blogs, and all the rest of us, substantially bigger problems.
I simply stated that the UK Fashion industry, and other creative industries come to that, are worth a lot of money to the British economy and are therefore reasonable topics to be on a Party Conference list. No one suggested they should be top of the agenda, the sole items discussed, or anything vaguely resembling that.
Owl @ 13:46
"I am waiting for the "real" conservatives to start their own Conservative party. It is the only way to break the Fabian hold."
It has come to that I'm afraid. I had hoped for change from within.
Not going to happen.
An alternative "Reform Conservative Party" is needed and right now.
The current CP is shallow, frivolous and without hope.
They are truly Political Pentecostals.
Well, there you have it, Mr Ernst. Do not frighten the youngsters with your petty worries about such pedestrian things like fuel and electricity and look upward instead, up and high to a glorious but environmentally sustainable future, one where noble Albion will, thanks to the mighty fashion industry engine, pull itself up by its very own own Brish-designed and Bangladesh-sown breeches! And. in the event of EU import regulation delays, I'm sure there is an old pair you can loan to your Motherland for a small consideration.
IanCad 16:34
It can't happen from within as that would require the "real conservatives" to infiltrate the "pink conservatives" and that won't be allowed to happen.
It works on the same principles as Common Purpose. Either think as the group do, or be forcebly removed from the group.
Come to think of it, it's the way the WWF, IPCC, WHO, UNO etc. operate too.
These Fabians do get around, don't they!
Avi Barzel...
On the contrary, feel free to brick yourself about the energy and fuel situation. With Chris Huhne at the helm, I know I am.
At the risk of repeating myself, I simply stated that a large area of British industry was, amongst many other things, not an unreasonable Party Conference topic.
I am not a member of any political party but Your Grace’s comments about the Tories is very worrying partly because it seems all parties are moving in a direction which centralizes power in the hands of the few. It is what we expect with labour – a party with the same roots as communism but not what we expect of the Conservative party particularly after all the rhetoric about the Big Society. Nevertheless, as Christians we know that this was the direction prophesied by Christ and I think that Len’s pessimism towards the efforts of men to solve the World’s problems are well founded. We have seen how politicians have mismanaged Education, Health, Social Services and now the Financial sector and as they have taken society further away from Christ, the fruits of their incompetence becomes ever more apparent. Are we likely to see them turn it around? Not unless they specifically dedicate our nation to Christ and institute public, Christian (not Islamic) prayers. Constantine the Great did not persecute people of other faiths but he did give a privileged place to Christianity and to its influence on the laws of the land. I can’t see Cameron doing it – Labour and the Lib Dems are incapable of even considering it, so what’s left. Is the Second Coming of the Messiah around the corner?
I understand your point, Mr Darter, but I've also learned that His Grace is good at finding weak spots and that Mr Ernst Bloefeldt's challenges are quite serious in substance, even when delivered in jest. A party dictat to encourage talk of fashion in these critical times seems like an imposed distraction thrown by a desperate party leadership. It evokes not the image of a government giving a leg up to a significant industry, but the image of a mad Emperor screeching on a violin as his city burns. The ridicule you are beginning to see being heaped at this issue will illustrate this point.
Suggested anthem for the Tory Party.
'They seek him here, they seek him there,
His clothes are loud, but never square.
It will make or break him so he's got to buy the best,
'Cause he's a dedicated follower of fashion.
And when he does his little rounds,
'Round the boutiques of London Town,
Eagerly pursuing all the latest fads and trends,
'Cause he's a dedicated follower of fashion.
Oh yes he is (oh yes he is), oh yes he is (oh yes he is).
He thinks he is a flower to be looked at,
And when he pulls his frilly nylon panties right up tight,
He feels a dedicated follower of fashion.
Oh yes he is (oh yes he is), oh yes he is (oh yes he is).
There's one thing that he loves and that is flattery.
One week he's in polka-dots, the next week he is in stripes.
'Cause he's a dedicated follower of fashion.
They seek him here, they seek him there,
In Regent Street and Leicester Square.
Everywhere the Carnabetian army marches on,
Each one an dedicated follower of fashion.
Oh yes he is (oh yes he is), oh yes he is (oh yes he is).
His world is built 'round discoteques and parties.
This pleasure-seeking individual always looks his best
'Cause he's a dedicated follower of fashion.
Oh yes he is (oh yes he is), oh yes he is (oh yes he is).
He flits from shop to shop just like a butterfly.
In matters of the cloth he is as fickle as can be,
'Cause he's a dedicated follower of fashion.
He's a dedicated follower of fashion.
He's a dedicated follower of fashion. (The Kinks for anyone who remembers them)
Yes Len, I do remember them but it was so long ago I can't remember the tune. Don't worry it will come back and I'll be able to sing your little ditty.
len,
LOL! I remember them, a talented and very under-rated band, at least in North America. What tune did you have in mind? I can't shake "All Day and All the Night" from my head now, but you probably had another tune mind.
Avi Barzel...
I absolutely take His Grace's (and others') points about the rigid centralisation of the Conservative Party, the marginalisation of genuine conservative thought and genuinely conservative people within the Party, and the lack of engagement with many serious issues.
As a former member of the Conservative Party, and someone who worked for them (when in Opposition) in Westminster and Brussels, I've long been aware of these trends and they fill me with a mixture of despair and loathing.
The only point I wanted to make was that, amidst the talk of an export-led recovery, we should not pooh-pooh the contribution that the creative industries such as Fashion, and the export of intellectual property and services, can make to the economy. Heavy industry and engineering are vital sectors of the economy but, like financial services, not the only ones.
Other than that, I've been with His Grace on the issues raised in this post for years :o)
Wait, wait, it can work with "Lola" with a minor alteration:
They seek him here,
They seek him there,
In Regent Street and
Leicester Square, o our I-van,
Aay-yay-yay-yay-I-van,
Aay-yay-yay-yay-I-van...
MrTinkles: "Just wondering...why is the dog's face pixelated??? Has he an upcoming court case?"
:)
He looks rather dashing in that picture. Is that Al Jolson in the background?
Anyway, perhaps this means that the door is open again for parliamentary candidates sacked by the party leader?
Avi,find the Kinks on YouTube. 'Dedicated follower of Fashion.'
Avi Barzel said 26 September 2011 16:47
"I'm sure there is an old pair you can loan to your Motherland for a small consideration."
Dear Avi
Ernst had set aside a little for a rainy day, unlike G Brown and co but didn't expect a bleedin monsoon for the last 3 years?
Only have wide flairs, tank top and platform shoes left over from seventies that old Ernst bought to show his children how stupid the fashion industry can be..Reckon they would want them?lol.
Ernst, my fine lad
ps
Darter Noster slimed 26 September 2011 18:03'
'Other than that, I've been with His Grace on the issues raised in this post for years :o)
A Master Ingratiator (OED defined as Brown Noser) indeed! lol. Your very humble servant, sir
By the way, I'm a tad disappointed the Sikh turban demonstration didn't make the blog today. No mention of it on the BBC either.
Mr Darter,
Your point remains well taken, although, again, timing and openings for funning should obviously been taken into account by at least one policy wonk at the leadership level.
Where I disagree with you is actually on the suggestion that manufacturing is no longer viable in the UK, or by extension anywhere in the first world. Regard, for example, the magnificent industrial "idle capacity" of your Projects which bustle with unengaged, often chemically enhanced, energy. Transerable skills abound; fulling and combing operations utilizing brass knuckles and fake nails, and plenty of young men in darkened stairwels who are already, in a way, in the needle trades. Ok, I can't resist the jiving, but you get you my point, I'm sure.
Well, Mr Enst, I...ehem...went beyond the norm by taking my "Yellowbrick Road" LP to my dad's tailor to model after Elton John's get-up on the cover and to create what were probably the first "elephant pants" (where the flare began from the mid-thigh) in then-provincial Toronto. Platforms were rather silly, I admit in retrospect, especially since I twisted an ankle in them whilst trying to catch the subway. However, they did have a utilitarian value in snowy and slushy Canada, and did prevent the elephant pants from fraying.
Len,
BWAHAHAHA!!!! Bingo! I don't recall this one, but what a great vid (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXaO3zgaf5Q)
Your Grace
It had to come you know; these London types taking over the country’s party and being quite shameless about it. So full marks for their honesty.
However, what do we do. Well, we could split the vote with an official conservative candidate, and a provisional conservative candidate, until they come to their senses. They’ll be squealing with pain like stuck pigs at Millbank !! Something will have to change.
Alternatively, we could all go over to UKIP. Eventually, there’ll just be an empty shell called the Conservative Party, with a few ‘right on’ Gay activists, EU enthusiasts, drug legislation abolishers and crime apologists. We all know these people, and they really didn’t matter when they were small in number, but now ??
And they have the nerve to ask you to vote for them - Bah !!.
Grateful thanks to Avi. I was able to sing along. The tune came back to my memory and I was able to sing along - in tune even. I thought Len had made up his own words but he didn't need to - it all fitted perfectly.
MrTinkles (26 September 2011 09:35)
Just wondering...why is the dog's face pixelated??? Has he an upcoming court case?
The Inspector General can clear up the mystery. The dog concerned appears in court nest week, charged with licking another dogs b___s in a public place. His defence is that if humans can consider gay marriage, then anything goes. We change the status quo at our peril !!
Shacklefree,
Full credits go to Len, I only found the classic vid after he told us the song's title. Ah, it seems like only yesterday, if one may be nostalgic and a bit trite.
Avi Shacklefree Len (26 September 2011 09:35)
For those of you who are interest in pop music, don't you agree that Troy Davis could have made a career out of being the spitting image of the artist ‘Junior’ from some years ago. Though admittedly it’s all rather academic now...
Perfect fit, Mr. Len! Brilliant, and thanks for reviving the memory.
Mr Avi Barzel @ asked why Mr Massow was carrying an ice-pick.
It's not an ice-pick, it's a hunting whip. The 'pick head' is a bone handle that can be used to open and shut a properly swung gate from ones's 'orse. Saves trying to jump the gate, always unadvisable for temporary gentlemen like Mr Massow.
I had already forgotten who Troy Davis was, Inspector. When googling, the first article that came up was "I Am Troy Davis, and So Are You." That would presumably be you too, Inspector. I thought that would warm the cockles of your heart. Hmmm, with a different trim, and an Afro perm on your avatar....
Anyway, the only Junior I vaguely recalled is a US blues singer, Junior Wells, a talented and prolific artist who performed now and then with the Stones and a few big bands, but had a significant following on his own. Thge last of the greats, definitely pre-(c)rap. Googled him too as I wondered what he looked like; Jr Wells doesn't seem to look like Davis at all, so you probably had someone else in mind. But the Wells chap you might like, methinks. Not poppy at all, if pop's not your thing and if you secretely crave pure, raw Delta blues with a corn-whisky voice and a wailing harp.
Thank you, Bluedog! I love stuff like that. I showed the pic to my 9-year old daughter, who goes English riding (such as it is in Canada) and she said she saw it at the stables but didn't know what it is. I'm a Western saddle (kind of a leather armchair with room for a beer fridge), charge and yee-haw kind'a guy myself. I don't trust for one bit those fragile looking hot-blooded neurotic critters my daughter rides. I'd probably wind up using the bone end to knock sense into their skulls when they get too weird and uppity which they seem to do all the time.
Avi
The ‘junior’ the Inspector had in mind was the lad who had a hit with “Mama used to say” 1982 . Google that.
Good heavens. What did I do to deserve that? That could ruin a man for life. But it is Troy Davis.
I'm rather concerned what fate awaits the poor hound. Is he pleading with his master to spare him? It has to be said, Mr Massow does have a rather lascivious glint in his eyes.
“On matters of style, swim with the current, on matters of principle, stand like a rock.”
While the administrations of europe actively seek the destruction of thier own peoples,through the application of the fabian agenda,why not have a good time doing it,talk nonsense,pretend you have the welfare of the people at heart,and have a good laugh with your cronies that the fools that elected you actually believe that you are acting in thier interests,because by the time that the plebs realize that they have been had,it will be too late.
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