The Modernisation Of The Conservative Party:
Letter To David Cameron

Dear David,
  I am a 'natural conservative', and I would love to vote for your party in the next general election, but...

(Please Note: I post all correspondance on my blog http://www.drunkenrantings.com)

While I believe your work to modernise the party has, in many cases been a positive thing, the party seems to have lost it's roots and is still lacking the fundamental direction which it ought to have...

The electorate are sick of spin. We want principles. You seem to abandoned the traditional Tory principles, and taken on the Blairite 'principle' of 'say what you need to to get what you want' instead. If this is incorrect then please tell the world - I do read the papers...

The core conservative principles - as I always understood them - were fundamentally anti-statist - as opposed to labour principles which are heavily statist:

• Low taxes
• Minimum government, but excellent public services / facilities
• Personal freedom, and more choice
• Opportunity for all

The things that have failed the Tories in the past, have never been these core principles. On the contrary, most failures have been caused by not sticking to these simple and evidently honourable principles...

The UK does not need or want more 'social engineering'. What it needs is better facilities, less regulation, less taxation, and less government interference.

The Tories biggest recent failure has been the surrendering of our sovreignty to the EU and the constant lies (sorry, no other word for it) that have been fed to the electorate about it's aims. The EU's clearly stated aims are, and always have been, political integration. Nothing less.

The way the Thatcher government, and subsequently, the Blair government have failed to be honest with those they should represent has been a major part of the breakdown in trust in British politics. To regain the trust of the electorate - a dose of honesty about the EU would go a long way...

If you could tell us exactly how we can legally and diplomatically stay within the EU while retaining business, and the remaining shreds of our sovreignty (and ideally regaining the rest) then I would join the Conservatives tomorrow. What the electorate want is properly thought through, workable solutions, and any party with the intelligence and guts to propose some would certainly stand out from the crowd.

The UK only prospers when it's citizens are well trained, and free to live their own way.

The UK desperately needs a better education system, but that will not be achieved by bureaucrats. Traditional Tory principles would suggest the sector is deregulated, and that an 'education credits' scheme is set up...

Parents should be able to choose from a diverse range of education for their children, and should not be forced into sending their children to a 'one-size-fits-all' comprehensive (or 'city academy' which is simply a comprehensive by another name). Deregulation, and selection by any criteria, by both parents and school, would improve the system faster than any government schemes ever will.

I went to an appalling comprehensive for 2 years, but was 'saved' by 3 years at private school prior to my 'O' levels, but I fear I will not be able to afford that for my son, even though it seems it will be all the more necessary due to the chronic fall in standards. All the things that matter have become far more expensive over the last 20 years, (i.e. private education) and the local comprehensives are absolutely not good enough! Conservative principles dictate that you should be promoting choice, and free enterprise - in the education sector as well as in business, not denying choice... This approach would probably work for the NHS too...

Please - we do not need an 'Heir to Blair' - what we need is a complete break from 'Marketing Politics', and a return to real Principles-based politics...

I'm afraid the current focus on 'social conscience' is utterly disingenuous. It is simply more marketing spiel which attempts to make the government seem powerful and useful...

Policies which would genuinely help people, the environment, and be popular:

1) TAX & REGULATION:

• If you really want to help poor people, take them right out of the tax system by instituting a flat-rate income tax system (similar to that in many eastern european nations) which only starts at £20k. You could then abolish the ludicrous 'tax-credits' system.
• You should also propose to de-regulate and de-tax the small business sector. (Lower business rates, less employment tax, less regulation...) - It is incredibly difficult for small businesses to make any money these days - and they are competing with multinationals with the advantage of economy of scale. This advantage is hugely increased by the burden of red-tape on small businesses.
• Low taxes stimulate the economy. Gordon Brown's entire policy is based on the erroneous assumption that tax 'costs the economy nothing' - whereas even I have seen the death of entire sectors of business due to taxes rendering them unprofitable. If you reduce taxes - you often end up taking more revenue. This should be a central principle for the Conservatives. If you appear to be converting to a tax and spend party, then you will probably lose the next election.

1a) TAX... & GLOBAL WARMING

If CO2 emissions really are a problem, then why on earth are renewable technologies subject to any taxes at all? If all taxes and most regulations were removed from the renewable energy sector - how long do you think we'd still be using fossil fuels for?

If global warming is so important to combat - then de-tax and de-regulate the renewable energy sector.

2) SCHOOLS & HEALTH:

Insist that every school has a playing field, and a swimming pool which is open to the public during the holidays (where space allows, else try to buy a site as near as possible - i.e. buy back the playing fields).

Alter the school day so there is an hour and a half of PE every day - at both primary and seconday schools.

Add an hour and a half of 'homework time' at the end of the secondary school day - and keep these older kids at school until 6pm.

Bullying: Remove all ambiguity! Institute a country-wide procedure for all schools - '3 strikes and you're out' corroborated by more than 1 teacher. Require schools to suspend / expel children if the rules are broken. Provide dedicated schools for excluded children. Provide a mechanism for them to return to mainstream schooling once trained in basic manners & non-violence...

3) HEALTH & EXERCISE FACILITIES:

This country has a dire shortage of decent exercise facilities - and an increasingly obese, unhappy and under-exercised population - a coincidence you think? Exercise is vital for mental as well as physical health, and access to these facilities (which we currently do not have locally) would make a huge difference to the wellbeing of the country.

£10Bn spent on the olympics will not be 'good for the nations heath'. You should be contrasting the money spent there with investment in sports facilities in the country as a whole... If that money were spent on proper facilities across the country - it would genuinely benefit everyone - not just Londoners... How many top-quality sports centers could we build for that £10Bn?

I'm not suggesting we should dump the olympics - on the contrary what I'm suggesting is we find another £10Bn to spend on proper, free, excellent facilities for everyone in the country. Perhaps we could pay for it by scrapping a thousand or so quangos, or even better - the regional assemblies... In fact, one could easily argue that the money would be quickly saved in the NHS due to the population being healthier - a genuine investment in the future...

The facilities I envisage are zero-emmission, minimalist, low-cost, and beautiful. Containing: