Chris Mason: Sunakian Conservatism in 76 pages

by | Jun 11, 2024 | Politics

Manifestos provide, in theory at least, the spine of an incoming government’s mission.The promises within them, if not entirely sacrosanct, are at least meant to be possessed of a greater sanctity than other more disposable political pledges.And they set a tone, a framework and dividing lines with political opponents too.Whisper it, but I quite like to collect them.I have old ones from years gone by on my bookshelves at home.They are political history preserved in glossy paper, and a constant reference point, for at least five years, for victorious and losing parties alike.The 2024 Conservative manifesto is a 76-page tome which has the desire and the instinct for tax cuts as its controlling thought.But hang on: cuts in national insurance and stamp duty get the thumbs-up, but there is no equivalent on income tax or inheritance tax.The argument goes that as sought after as these might be by many, they are less of a priority than the other two.And there is a pattern here, as you can see when you look at the Tory promise on borders and security.Rishi Sunak renews his commitment to the Conservative plan to send some of those arriving over the Channel on small boats to Rwanda.But look what is not promised: the one thing some reckon would make it more likely this scheme and others like it would work — withdrawing from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).Instead, there is a rather fudgey formulation in the manifesto, on page 36.It reads: “If we are forced t …

Article Attribution | Read More at Article Source

[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnManifestos provide, in theory at least, the spine of an incoming government’s mission.The promises within them, if not entirely sacrosanct, are at least meant to be possessed of a greater sanctity than other more disposable political pledges.And they set a tone, a framework and dividing lines with political opponents too.Whisper it, but I quite like to collect them.I have old ones from years gone by on my bookshelves at home.They are political history preserved in glossy paper, and a constant reference point, for at least five years, for victorious and losing parties alike.The 2024 Conservative manifesto is a 76-page tome which has the desire and the instinct for tax cuts as its controlling thought.But hang on: cuts in national insurance and stamp duty get the thumbs-up, but there is no equivalent on income tax or inheritance tax.The argument goes that as sought after as these might be by many, they are less of a priority than the other two.And there is a pattern here, as you can see when you look at the Tory promise on borders and security.Rishi Sunak renews his commitment to the Conservative plan to send some of those arriving over the Channel on small boats to Rwanda.But look what is not promised: the one thing some reckon would make it more likely this scheme and others like it would work — withdrawing from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).Instead, there is a rather fudgey formulation in the manifesto, on page 36.It reads: “If we are forced t …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
Share This