The Tories must fight the culture wars – or die
by Tim Stanley, Telegraph:
Conservatives who argue that the party should only fight on economics don’t understand today’s politics.
There is a breed of Tory who says “let’s give up on the culture war and focus on making people rich”. The voters don’t like being lectured about gender, they argue; we’re just alienating the young. But what the supporters of this theory don’t realise is that the culture they would tolerate will consign them to perpetual opposition.
You can see traces of the ceasefire mentality in the Government’s new guidance on trans issues in schools, which is expected to say that kids can use whatever pronouns they wish so long as their parents agree. By putting the moral burden on to parental consent, ministers avoid passing judgment on whether “trans” is a reality with attendant rights or a delusion to be discouraged. Instead MPs have noisily condemned the much lower-hanging fruit of those children who ask to be treated as horses, dinosaurs or, in one case, a moon.
[…] The “end the culture war” strategy hinges on the idea that what makes people Tory is economic opportunity – so, if the Conservatives get back to cutting taxes and building houses, the voters will return.
Putting aside the fact that Rishi Sunak has made both policies less feasible, political scientist Eric Kaufmann points out that only 10 per cent of those aged 18 to 35 intend to vote Conservative, and their politics doesn’t seem to correlate with material conditions. Owning a house, getting married or being super wealthy records an almost negligible effect upon voting intention; attitudes towards feminism or sexuality are more significant. The good news is the Tories enjoy “an edge” among youngsters who want strong borders, Brexit and who believe in God. The bad news is there are only about eight such people in existence, and the Left is far ahead among the vast army of social liberals. The problem, concludes Kaufmann, is that the zeitgeist is far-Left, and the Tories have made no effort to shape it.
Read here (£)
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