Comradeship is supposed to be a concept associated with the Left. Conservatives don’t have much inclination for worldwide revolution. They are usually rather disdainful of theory – preferring instinct and practical, common sense remedies. With a quiet patriotism, they also tend to focus on their own nation states rather than on matters elsewhere. The closest they would get to outlining an ideology might be something like: ‘My values didn’t come from reading books but from my upbringing. My parents instilled in me the importance of hard work…’
Thus the notion of an international gathering for Conservatives – offering each other fraternal greetings – might sound incongruous. Yet such events do take place. One happened last week in Washington, hosted by the International Democracy Union, with representatives from member organisations in 65 countries, including the UK’s Conservative Party and the US Republicans. The governing parties in Mongolia and Ghana are among the members. (Perhaps there will be a new recruit from Syria in the future, who knows?)
Kemi Badenoch attended and gave a speech which went down a storm with those present. There was a standing ovation, and the former Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper declared: ‘She is going to be a global conservative superstar.’
It got little attention in our domestic media. But in a way it was rather remarkable. Badenoch alerted the audience that even though UK Conservatives have seen their parliamentary ranks depleted by the party’s recent electoral drubbing they are intellectually resurgent.
One theme was a powerful rebuke for those Conservative appeasers who wished to avoid ‘culture wars’. She said:
In the UK, I am criticised as a ‘Culture Warrior.’ It is meant to be pejorative, but I love the title the left-wing media gives me. My grandfather told me that I was descended from warriors, and so I think I’m keeping up the tradition. I believe in tradition. And if we don’t defend our culture, who will?
She went on to warn that ‘liberalism has been hacked’. This happened in various ways: ‘The presumption of innocence is thrown away and replaced with cancel culture masquerading as justice.’
Badenoch argued that ‘the right to protest is used as a cover to carry out intimidation, most recently as we’ve seen in cities across the world, of Jews. Posters of missing children and kidnapped hostages are ripped down, denying the freedom of others to be heard.’
‘Our history – read through the most hostile and negative interpretations possible and taught to children in schools.’
There was the absurd demand for reparations – ‘every country in the world can claim that it deserves reparations from another one.’ But it had ceased to be ‘a fringe discussion’ due to ‘a weakness in the West and in those who are meant to defend and champion western values.’
Lest the point had still not been grasped, she thundered:
If the West, is only prosperous due to slavery and colonialism, if all its success is down to the patriarchy, white supremacy and hetero-normative oppression, there is a price to be paid. That price is that our beliefs, democracy, equality before the law, meritocracy, free markets are fiction. Fairy tales we tell ourselves to cover up a dark and murky past. There can be no resolution of the big problems of our age if we lose confidence in our history and the story of Western civilisation.
The speech also gave us an indication of how radical Badenoch would be in following a small state agenda:
A common mistake is to accept that every problem requires the state to get involved. This reinforces the belief that state action can solve everything, when it cannot. The more state power grows, the more we curtail what people can and should do for themselves. Worse, we reduce people’s ability to think for themselves. This is why I am excited about DOGE and what President-Elect Trump and Elon Musk will do on government efficiency. It is terrifying people around the world, but I think it will be absolutely brilliant.
She also singled out the Argentinian President Javier Milei for praise – his ‘fantastic speech, in Davos of all places’ was ‘absolutely right’. This is a man who has achieved cuts in public spending by almost a third in real terms in less than a year. Musk aims to do the same – cutting the US Federal Budget of $6 trillion by $2trn.
Which of Badenoch’s predecessors would have dared give such a speech? It is a long time since a Conservative leader has engaged in the battle of ideas with such clarity and gusto. Michael Howard issued an excellent statement of broad beliefs – which covered the Conservative view on equality, the role of the state, freedom, enterprise, personal responsibility and patriotism. But really, we have to go back to Margaret Thatcher for a parallel.
Badenoch’s rebuke for the recent Conservative Government was quite as brutal as anything Thatcher said about Heath’s:
The Conservative party forgot what the state’s purpose is in national life, no longer asking, what it should or should not do. The state expanded and taxes went up. Instead, we used state power to continue tinkering with every aspect of life in order to achieve social justice, and if we keep doing that, we will sleepwalk into a planned economy far more oppressive than thinkers of the twentieth century could ever have thought.
I accept that Badenoch’s new direction for the Conservatives has not really cut through to the public. Far more attention has been given to Gregg Wallace and MasterChef. It is noted that Badenoch was a minister under Rishi Sunak, that she has pursued party unity in her shadow cabinet appointments (such as appointing the establishment figure Mel Stride as Shadow Chancellor). There has been resistance to giving early policy announcements. So it is assumed Badenoch offers continuity rather than change. Those Conservatives yearning for something more muscular find Reform UK offers a thriving alternative.
Yet sooner or later, our fair-minded electorate will take notice of what Badenoch has to say. They will find it rather a shock. Many will be dismayed. But I suspect that many more will find it strikes a chord with their own beliefs, is clearly sincere and comes from a leader who is serious and courageous.
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