The Tories aren’t evil – and it’s not helpful to think of them so

I am a Labour voter.  I am in fact a Labour member as of about 6 weeks ago.  Despite the best attempts of the triumphant ideologues of the far left who are have taken over the party, I have as much right to be in this party as they do (and potentially more given that so many of them have supported far-left anti-Labour parties such as the Greens and Trade Union and Socialist Coalition).

As such, I’m not particularly fond of Tories. This is (almost) purely an ideological judgement. I have Tory friends, Tory family members and come from the Tory-dominated South.

But it’s the Tory ideology I don’t like. Its offer is a small and mean thing, promising small rewards in terms of slightly less taxes in return for exacerbating crippling poverty at the bottom of the pyramid, poorer and poorer public services for us all and a frayed society weak at home and abroad.  It’s one rooted in an obsession with financial value, knowing the price of everything but the true worth of nothing. It appeals to fear, selfishness and greed and undermines better values of solidarity, community and social justice.

I wanted to get that out of the way before moving on to the main point of this post, as contained in title of this article. Tories aren’t evil. Tory voters aren’t evil. Even Tory politicians aren’t necessarily evil. Those who vote for, joins or represent the Conservative Party are not doing so out of some Machiavellian desire to attack the poor, brutalise migrants and sell off public services. They vote, join and represent off the back of a moral, political or economic judgement that it serves their interests and the country better than their alternatives. As such, I don’t share its motivation but you have to respect and try to understand how and why they made the decision.  

The fact that so many on the far left don’t is problematic. This is for three reasons. Firstly, it creates an image of extremism and intolerance that toxifies Labour and lefty politics more generally.  Hundreds celebrating Thatcher’s funeral – regardless of what you thought of her – was distinctly unpleasant, and outside the self-congratulatory world of the insular left seemed petty, nasty and a bit pathetic. Other examples abound – from Corbyn’s cosying up to anti-UK extremists to Salmond’s SNP mob threatening all kinds of journalists and public figures in the 2014 referendum – distract from the arguments to be had and heighten the feelings of threat that the Tories so skilfully played on in the last election.

The second area of damage that the ‘Tories-are-evil’ narrative facilitates is the mirror image of the first – the Tories look better by comparison.  We have seen that over the past few months.  Whilst the cyber warriors and rally-attenders all join up to agree on how evil and out-of-touch the Tories are, the Conservative leadership meanwhile can get on with looking statesmanlike and non-ideological, focusing on running the country whilst its opponents bicker and quarrel.  By and large the public don’t like ideology.  They like competence.  And shouting about how evil these Tories (perceived as competent) are emphasises the first and utterly neglects the latter.

Finally – and most importantly in my point of view – is the fact that thinking this stops Labour developing its own ideas properly. Even reasonable centrist policies – such as raising the minimum wage and devolving power to the north and other regions – are seen as not fit to be co-opted or improved and included in a Labour offer to the electorate once the Tories have put forward their own versions. A raised minimum wage was even a Labour policy – no Tory accused Osborne of being ‘Labour-lite’, and Labour should have claimed credit for putting low pay on the national agend; devolution to achieve social justice should have been made our own. All that put us on the wrong side of history. It twists us into going, ‘if the Tories like it, we hate it’ and erodes further our credibility as an alternative government.

Every Tory voter is a potential Labour voter to be won round. Every Tory politician is someone to be defeated in debate and replaced in their position. But not to be hated or despised. That is the mind-set that wins elections and improves the country.