I think that political labels are losing their meaning, if they ever had one. If forced to label myself I would choose “liberal” because, shallow though it is, it probably comes closest as a single word descriptor to describing my personal politics. And yet the Tony Crosland Gaitskellite version of “socialist” isn’t far away either. “Social Democrat” and “Liberal” aren’t that far away from one another. The LibDems in their very name embrace this truth.
The post war pre Brexit Conservative Party, the Thatcher years aside, was not extremist. Heath removed Powell. Nor were successive Labour governments and shadow governments (Michael Foot aside) extremist before the insanity of Corbyn. Britain was governed from the centre ground. “Butskellite” was more than just a handy descriptor. Both main participate had their lunatic fringes. But Harold Wilson was Bevan when campaigning and Gaitskell in office. Edward Heath talked “Neoliberal” but had to govern a mixed economy. Blair undid little that Thatcher/Major had introduced
But Brexit hasn’t gone away and One Nation Conservatives are a threatened species. My liberalism is strongly underpinned by my internationalism, the two go together. But internationalist Tories like Clarke, Patten, Heseltine and before them Heath weren’t exactly liberals! And yet they and thousands of other internationalist Conservatives were cast aside as the Party became not Thatcherite (their delusion) but Powellite (the truth). Remember the most vocal Conservative opponent of the Common Market was the nakedly nationalist and imperialist Enoch Powell.
The centre didn’t hold and we can analyse the reasons. Brexit is, of course, the primary one. Whilst Cameron must take most of the blame for launching the referendum and then mismanaging the 2016 campaign Corbyn was almost as much to blame giving lacklustre support to continued EU membership which had been central to his party’s manifesto only a year earlier.
Brexit turned the Tories hard Right, and Labour hard Left. The Conservatives are still there. Starmer is the heir to the centrist policies of the past whether they be of Blair or Macmillan. Sunak emphatically is not.
Paddy’s Blogs in a crazy world 
Of all the British political leaders in this election, the only true internationalist is the unlikely Ed Davey. He is not a man who aspires to lofty political rhetoric but a decent honest man he is.
The Tory/Reform lot is attempting to self-destruct and that’s no bad thing. The only political label that fits them both is Fascist in the mold of Oswald Mosely.
The contempt Sunak showed at the D-Day commemorations is an example of how a generation of Bankers, and hedge fund owners, recently out of short pants, feel towards the dreadful sacrifices our parents and grandparents suffered. For Sunak isn’t any kind of authentic politician. His place in the world is in a financial ivory tower. Separated from ordinary people by great wealth. Difficult to paste a label on that.
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