The elder Tories I've spoken to in the last few years feel exactly like this, though they express it with a lot less humour. They are flabbergasted (which I think is an appropriate adjective for an elder Tory) at the total abandonment of the principles (small government, free markets, law & order) that attracted them to the party in the first place.
Hard relate. Went to a gig in Hackney last month, one man electro sound world with vintage Super8 film visuals screened behind him... listened to Health On the Line podcast en route. Who doesn’t like a bit of health system reform with their alternative music?
Hi James. Do you take requests for blogs? It seems notable to me that the only people trying to buy The Telegraph are right wing nutters. Wouldn't it be great if it could be run by sensible centrists who genuinely have Britain's best interests at heart, rather than fighting the culture wars? People with your sort of political views! Why is there no such bid on the table? Could something like that work? And would the Torygraph's readership swallow an O'Malleyite editorial line? I think they would but I'd be interested in reading you think this through, if you feel it's a topic you can take on.
Historically the Labour party comprised democratic socialists and social democrats. Theoretically socialists wanted to move society to a different economic model, without explaining what such a system would look like in practice. Social democrats had a less ambitious objective - accept a capitalist economy but alleviate its worth impacts on people through state intervention. This could include measures to prevent the accumulation and concentration of economic and political power. Those on the left in continental Europe, particular in German and the Nordic countries, weren't afraid to describe themselves as social democrats, but particularly since the Gang of Four and the creation of the SDP the term social democrat has been regarded as heretical in Labour Party circles. James you're a social democrat. Don't be ashamed to admit it. And incidentally though the Conservative party in the past sometimes shared with social democrats certain approaches to managing society and the state, this has been more from a managerial rather than an ideological perspective.
The purpose of Town and Country Planning legislation is not, as you suggest it should be, just to build more homes, but to decide how we use our space. It's a scarce resource. Private gain has to be balanced against public loss. 'Nimbys' and developers equally overlook the reason for having a 'Green Belt' around cities, which is not to protect commuting countryside dwellers in the style to which they've become accustomed but to protect city people from the consequences of sprawl – congesting them and making access to open spaces more difficult.
So let us not abolish planning legislation and regret it afterwards, but improve it to meet all of the many purposes it serves. I hope that this is not too socialist an idea for the ageing O'Malley.
I had to check that it was not April 1. Are you not sure that you are a classic liberal, and the Conservative party have moved way beyond you [and many of us] to the authoritarian right?
The elder Tories I've spoken to in the last few years feel exactly like this, though they express it with a lot less humour. They are flabbergasted (which I think is an appropriate adjective for an elder Tory) at the total abandonment of the principles (small government, free markets, law & order) that attracted them to the party in the first place.
Hard relate. Went to a gig in Hackney last month, one man electro sound world with vintage Super8 film visuals screened behind him... listened to Health On the Line podcast en route. Who doesn’t like a bit of health system reform with their alternative music?
I read this with a huge grin on my face (I mean, if you don't laugh, you'll cry, right?)
This is in my top-5 James O'Malley pieces (just don't ask me what the other four are... I didn't know I had a top 5 until I typed this.)
Hi James. Do you take requests for blogs? It seems notable to me that the only people trying to buy The Telegraph are right wing nutters. Wouldn't it be great if it could be run by sensible centrists who genuinely have Britain's best interests at heart, rather than fighting the culture wars? People with your sort of political views! Why is there no such bid on the table? Could something like that work? And would the Torygraph's readership swallow an O'Malleyite editorial line? I think they would but I'd be interested in reading you think this through, if you feel it's a topic you can take on.
This is an interesting idea - I will put my thinking cap on!
VOTE O’MALLEY!
This is a very funny piece, James. But I seem to be crying for some reason?
This is *exactly* the reaction that I’m going for.
How did this not include a reference to freeing the Postal Address File?
Great article though!
Cheers. There is a reference to it! In the last section!
Apologies, I never should have doubted you (or commented before coffee)
Sometimes you’ll think I’m not banging on about the PAF and then BAM! No, I’m actually still banging on about the PAF after all.
Historically the Labour party comprised democratic socialists and social democrats. Theoretically socialists wanted to move society to a different economic model, without explaining what such a system would look like in practice. Social democrats had a less ambitious objective - accept a capitalist economy but alleviate its worth impacts on people through state intervention. This could include measures to prevent the accumulation and concentration of economic and political power. Those on the left in continental Europe, particular in German and the Nordic countries, weren't afraid to describe themselves as social democrats, but particularly since the Gang of Four and the creation of the SDP the term social democrat has been regarded as heretical in Labour Party circles. James you're a social democrat. Don't be ashamed to admit it. And incidentally though the Conservative party in the past sometimes shared with social democrats certain approaches to managing society and the state, this has been more from a managerial rather than an ideological perspective.
The purpose of Town and Country Planning legislation is not, as you suggest it should be, just to build more homes, but to decide how we use our space. It's a scarce resource. Private gain has to be balanced against public loss. 'Nimbys' and developers equally overlook the reason for having a 'Green Belt' around cities, which is not to protect commuting countryside dwellers in the style to which they've become accustomed but to protect city people from the consequences of sprawl – congesting them and making access to open spaces more difficult.
So let us not abolish planning legislation and regret it afterwards, but improve it to meet all of the many purposes it serves. I hope that this is not too socialist an idea for the ageing O'Malley.
JM
Enjoyable writing as ever but slight slipping of standards with the use of the dreaded "great"......
I had to check that it was not April 1. Are you not sure that you are a classic liberal, and the Conservative party have moved way beyond you [and many of us] to the authoritarian right?