'The Tories are obsessed about immigration and are clueless on the key issues affecting Britain,' says Bill Rammell
Bill Rammell says he thinks the Tories are clueless on the key issues affecting Britain
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Are the Tories clueless on the key issues affecting Britain? I really think they are.
As a party, they are not representative of modern Britain. Over half their members are over 60, they are much more right-wing than the norm and are obsessed about immigration and Brexit in a way most people are not.
The average Tory voter is aged 62, voted for Brexit, and has voted Conservative previously. They are bluntly and simply not representative.
Tory instincts and priorities in Government were not those of the mainstream majority. More cuts to public services, already cut to the bone after years of austerity. Tax cuts when in their gut people knew we as a country couldn’t afford them.
Banging on about Rwanda, when most could see it was not a deterrent - only one per cent of those coming here in small boats would ever have been sent there.
Obsessing about leaving the ECHR, when two thirds of British people support us being party to it.
All of this shows why the Tories are clueless about the key issues affecting Britain. And it ran through their record in office.
Brexit - despite numerous promises made before the referendum, the Conservatives struggled to demonstrate the tangible benefits of Brexit.
Immigration - misselling on a larcenous scale. Instead of net migration reduced to the tens of thousands, the Tories tripled the numbers.
The lies and dishonesty of Boris Johnson - a man manifestly unfit for public office, convicted by parliament of lying to it and the country.
Priti Patel, Robert Jenrick, Tom Tugendhat, Mel Stride, Kemi Badenoch and James Cleverly are in the running for Tory leader
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The NHS deteriorated significantly during the Tory years. Waiting lists were 18 weeks in 2010, and we had the highest public satisfaction ratings in the history of the NHS. Now waiting times are 18 months, with the lowest satisfaction ratings ever.
The Tories really don’t have a clue.
No answers on the economy and cost of living.
Tory policies disproportionately favoured the wealthy and did little to alleviate the economic hardships of the broader population. Really clueless.
And then there's the Liz Truss debacle. Put simply, she was forced out after 49 days, as her mini-Budget caused financial turmoil, and the pound fell to record lows against the dollar.
The searching question for the Tories - how did they elect someone so lacking in empathy, communication skills, and judgement? It left people thinking this is a crazy party to saddle us with such a leader and PM. Utterly clueless.
And finally Rishi Sunak - a billionaire out of touch with ordinary people. Tetchy, petulant and entitled. In hock to the far right of his party. A really, really poor leader who thought he was a really, really good one. A toxic combination.
That was their record in Government.
Now we have their leadership election.
We shouldn’t expect a manifesto for the next election. But we should have a right to hear someone delivering a brutal, reality check on what is wrong with the Tory Party.
Like Neil Kinnock, Tony Blair, David Cameron, and Keir Starmer did with their parties which were seriously off the rails.
There is no sign of this whatsoever from any of the leadership candidates.
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Before the Tories are anywhere near being in contention for Government again, they need a leader willing to grab their members by the lapels and tell them the brutal truth of how extreme and out of touch with ordinary people the Tories are.
A leader who will confront the Tories’ unwillingness to get why they lost so heavily.
Not that they weren’t right-wing enough, but that to most people they were too right-wing and too extreme. They were seen by most people as being out of touch and bluntly not normal.
Until the Tories have a leader willing to take on these vital rebuilding tasks, they will remain and be seen to remain clueless about the issues affecting Britain.