I was appalled to receive this Tory leaflet – what happened to Compassionate Conservatism?

By James Maker

Bright and early on Sunday morning this week, I arrived at Romford Labour Party HQ for one of our weekly campaigning sessions in the local constituency. Browsing one of my comrade’s copies of the Observer I was surprised, but pleased, that the dog whistle tactics of the local Conservative Party had been unearthed in the national press. Finally, Mr Rosindell’s local tactics of simplistic rhetoric and slogans had been brought to light.

For those who missed it, Anushka Asthana and Toby Helm’s article exposed our local MP, Andrew Rosindell, for the support he apparently lent to a local Conservative leaflet with false and socially divisive information on immigration.

Two weeks ago I was appalled to receive the material through my own front door. My first reaction was “I’ve never seen BNP material in my ward before – they must be targeting new areas”. However, on closer inspection, it came to my attention that this was in fact the local Tories.

Alongside the accusation that the “floodgates” had been opened during the past 13 years, the leaflet suggested that the Conservatives would impose new transitional controls on the right of nationals of the new EU member states to work in the UK; illegal under EU law. Not only was the information used in the leaflet exceeding misleading, but in a consistency with a large proportion of ethnic minorities this kind of material only benefits those on the far right who wish to exploit immigration to meet their own electoral ends. I thought that Phill Woolas summed it up to a tee:

“It is deeply irresponsible for David Cameron’s shadow home office minister to be appearing on material using this sort of dog-whistle politics. Of course, we need effective immigration policies – which is why we introduced the points-based system – but making misleading claims like this is dangerous and wrong.”

Most concerning about the weekend’s events, however, is Rosindell’s assertion that he ‘did not write or approve this councillor’s flyer’. Not only is he clearly shown on the front of the leaflet “supporting” the campaign, but another image indicates him “discussing immigration and asylum” with Mr Cameron. Are we really to believe that such a leaflet could emanate from his office without his attention being drawn to it, despite his evident “passion” for the subject?

As Left Foot Forward reported this morning, there is evidence that the MP was out with his Local Action Team delivering the material. Moreover, is it a coincidence that on the very week that this leaflet was making its way into homes across the consistency, that during PMQs on February 10th 2010, Rosindell rose to ask the Prime Minister “will the government consider introducing a cap on immigration?”

Although Cameron may have lent his support to our beleaguered MP, serious questions remain regarding his involvement in the production, distribution and promotion of this socially discordant literature. Cameron needs to reconsider whether the questionable integrity of Rosindell is at odds with his position in the shadow home office team.

Nationally for the Conservative Party, this leaflet displays the deep seated right wing views held by a distinct number of its MPs. The pressure to bow to such views in the light of Labour’s resurgence in the polls was evident over the weekend, with The Independent labelling the leaders speech as “Tories turn to the right”. What happened to the “Compassionate Conservatism” that was progressive and cared about social justice?

The simply answer, maybe, is that it was never there is the first place. Cameron has continuously invoked what he perceived as Thatcher’s “economic revolution” as winning the economic argument for the New Right in 1980s and leading to prosperity for all. Let us not forget that on entering government Thatcher presented her cabinet with their bible, Fredrick Von Hayek’s The Constitution of Liberty, in which he claimed that social justice was incompatible with a free-market society and was thus “nonsense”.

As this facade of “Compassionate Conservatism” wilts and the views of my own MP and fellow right wingers – such as John Redwood, who seems to be making a great deal of television appearances at the moment -became more and more prominent, the divisions within Conservative ranks will further come to the surface.

Stopping the Conservative regression to a previous decade requires the Labour Party to continue to expose the soul of their opposition.

Related posts:

1. Mancunians are not easily fooled by Cameron’s so-called “Compassionate Conservatism”
2. Tory PPCs: Compassionate? Progressive? Apparently not
3. It’s Conservatism alright, but is it really progressive?
4. Government appalled by execution
5. Biscuitgate: it never happened