Three words Conservatives hate

By Shibley Rahman / @shibleylondon

At the weekend, many Twitter enthusiasts used the 3wordsconversativeshate hashtag. The offerings were not just produced by people who were well known to be Labour supporters, however. Social media critics have previously remarked that there are so many hashtag campaigns (#savenhsdirect #sackcoulson #saveourforests and #ukuncut, each with different levels of success) that it is hard to take yet another one seriously. They further argue that these campaigns are not a replacement for reasoned debate.

This article isn’t supposed to be a replacement for reasoned debate either. However, I would like to suggest the likely reasoning behind each of the following genuine contributions (all repeated several times) over last Saturday and Sunday on Twitter.

Education Maintenance Allowance

The allowance, which dates back to 1944, was revised by the Labour government into a means-tested national scheme supporting young people from lower-income families in 16-19 education. George Osborne has said the £30 weekly payment was to be replaced by “more targeted support”, though he has not say what exactly.

Paying Your Tax

Some Labour members feel that certain multi-national corporations have been let off an enormous tax bill worth billions by HM Revenue and Customs – allegations vigorously denied – and the revenue from this would, indeed, solve the funding crisis in higher education. Tax avoidance was a common theme overall, especially in relation to possible Tory benefactors.

Equal Human Rights

Ken Clarke QC MP has never been shy to express his opposition to repeal of the Human Rights Act [1998] and its replacement with a Bill of Rights. When David Cameron MP announced the plan in 2006, Clarke said the party leader would have difficulty finding any lawyers to agree with him. The differences between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats have never been formally resolved since the General Election 2010.

Poll Tax Protests

The Poll Tax Protests were against the Community Charge (commonly known as the Poll Tax), the jewel in Thatcher’s crown. By far the largest protest occurred in central London on Saturday March 31, 1990. This is thought to have contributed to the downfall of Thatcher, who resigned as PM in November the same year, defending the tax when opinion polls were showing 2% support for it. The next PM, Major, then announced it would be abolished.

The Poll Tax Protests are hugely symbolic, as they represent the Conservatives becoming desperately out-of-touch with public opinion, with images of chaos and disarray being projected all around the world to our economic partners.

Increased Public Spending

This is of course the big issue of this parliamentary term. Many Labour voters still perceive their public services will suffer, and they not be restored to full function even if deficit reduction succeeds. Labour fundamentally opposes the rate and depth of cuts, so Labour supporters not surprisingly feel that it was lie that there was “no choice” in conducting deficit reduction in this drastic manner.

There were many other sets of three words, all polite, but hopefully these examples should provide food for thought.