Tory conference reveals their party has learnt nothing from their time in power

There’s perhaps no more terrifying nine words than ‘I’m from the Conservatives, and I’m here to help.’

Perhaps that’s why the Conservative Party conference has been nothing short of a pre-Halloween horror show – with pledges of cuts to welfare, cuts to overseas aid, cuts to public bodies and cuts to taxes (while keeping quiet about what public services would be cut to fund them).

Andrew Griffith, Shadow Chancellor and the co-architect of Liz Truss’ mini-budget, delivered a speech that fell flat in front of the few people who showed up at their conference, including a mangled analogy involving a goose.

However, the most tone-deaf moment was when he claimed that his party would be “the ones to make the hard choices”, after ducking tough decisions for more than 14 years.

When Labour returned to power in 2024, we inherited a Britain neglected under Conservative rule: a stagnant economy, prisons at capacity, schools literally crumbling, an NHS at breaking point and a social care system not fit for purpose. And yet the Tories have the gall to say they will take the “tough decisions”?

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That same refusal to confront the Conservatives’ record is evident in Kemi Badenoch too, who claimed Thatcher’s privatisation of water has been a “success”, while promising a ‘Britannia Shield’ to protect the UK, despite her party spending 14 years cutting the nation’s defences to the bone. It is difficult to square promises to fix the country’s problems with an inability to acknowledge the failures of the past.

Is it little wonder then that their own party chair told delegates they don’t want an early election?

Until the Conservatives take time to look in the mirror, admit what they did wrong, and adjust accordingly – rather than pursuing even more hard-right policies designed to make a splash in The Sun – they will never be a serious party for government.

So while they live in fantasy land in Birmingham, Labour will get on with running the country and delivering on the change Britain has been crying out for.

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