I think that most of us who follow politics , albeit from the sidelines, would argue that the current Government is the most Right Wing since Thatcher’s. I would go further and say it was the most extreme in my lifetime (b. 1946). And yet for those who drove us into this joy free desert , the ERG and fellow travellers, it isn’t enough. Is there anything more gormlessly self-satisfied than the ravings of a “Libertarian” Tory?
John Major famously said that he could hear the flapping of the dress of the men in white coats. The Redwood tendency at the time was comparatively small. Now they infect the House of Commons more than any virus. Look what they did to Theresa May.
“Freedom” like “Motherhood” is something we all approve of innit? Suggest that something curtails our freedoms and it instantly becomes a BAD THING. Within days some self-appointed libertarian expert will surface in The Spectator or the Daily Telegraph to blast it. Did Magna Carta die in vain?
Scientists and Doctors are doing their best to save us from further doom and gloom. It’s not nice to lose a loved one and if I forgo a bit of my freedom to help ensure it doesn’t happen does it really matter? All I need is an assurance that there is science behind (say) the decision to close pubs at 10:00pm.
What I don’t need is opinionated Right Wingers blathering on about “Freedom” shouting down the real experts. I wouldn’t trust the ERG tendency with anything important and certainly not giving advice on areas outside their expertise. That’s quite a lot actually.
“May we think of freedom not as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to do what is right.” – Peter Marshall
Paddy’s Blogs in a crazy world 
The logical conclusion to extreme libertarianism is chaos. If you abandon controls, checks and balances what remains? Free for all where values of decency and consideration for others are abandoned to the laws of the bleak savanna. The survival of the fittest but in the Tory case the richest. The freedom to increase wealth at the expense and degradation of others. Avoid essential taxation that supports services most of us could not afford without state support.
These ERG people and the extreme right of course only seek these freedoms for themselves. Not on any account for the rest of us. They still expect the protection of the state for their families, numerous possessions and financial interests. They may be content to throw us a bone or two now and again but like the Dickensian character, woe is you if you ask for a little more. Be off with you if you seek fairness or equality, know your place.
I struggle to understand why these people are elected to office in the first place. I can only believe that the blue-collar vote that put them there is aspirational. They want a chance to emulate their values. It’s a very depressing conclusion.
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