Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind. - Bernard Baruch

Conservative "Promises"

Another party conference, another round of deciphering promises and lies, and this time the Conservatives. But this year, it's not any new Tory conference, because this year, they back to their roots. Cut taxes, stricter immigration and protect the NHS (accusing Labour of mismanagement), what is more left wing?

This is especially surprising to some us, because a recent trend would indicate that parties are moving away from their traditional ideologies, in favour of policies suiting public opinion. So are the Conservatives taking a huge gamble here? Will it pay off? 

"I can cut your taxes"- But at what cost?

Coming from a strong ideological background is a double edged sword, keep it and suffer strong public opposition, move away from it and face strong party divisions. David Cameron arguably made the strong decision to move towards public opinion, away from their traditional ideology when he came into leadership in 2005, by focusing on the failing economy and how it needed a re-boot. He especially promoted cutting public spending to help the economy, and this bode well with the public, shown in the win for the Conservatives in the 2010 General Election. However this is generally viewed as a reactionary policy, as it isn't strictly Conservative ideology. But this sort of policy has come under fire by the parties own MP's, as shown in the abdication of 2 MP's to UKIP in a month. So has David Cameron retaliated, and has it succeeded?

It's another tightrope, with Cameron still playing safe, keeping the public happy too (or at least promises to!) First key "promise"-  cutting 30 million people's taxes, and sure, why not? What's the harm? First flaw, they're giving Labour ammunition, as the most likely consequence of this will be a stagnating economy, Whilst the UK economy has got its self back on track since the Conservatives walked into No 10, but we're not through it yet, we can aspirre to be the best in Europe, and we look good against other countries (especially in Europe!), but we can't fall behind and more importantly into another recession. Second "promise"- the UK would "walk on by" the threat from IS, well that fell apart quickly didn't it? To say that and know that the RAF are bombing ISIS is beyond contradictory, it's almost a blatant fib that should be rewarded with a 5 minute timeout on the naughty step.

Does this need explaining?- Summary of the Conservative
"promises"

And finally, a third "promise"- immigration would be a key policy as part of Britain and the EU negotiation strategy... I'm sorry, but can someone tell David Cameron, that this has been the case for years, and nothing has changed. Same old border crossings, same old waiting times, same old illegal immigrants coming in, and you wonder why 2 MP's moved to UKIP? I hate to say, but Cameron gave UKIP the upper hand, during his own conference, because I don't think this promise will be enforced, because it is realistically improbable and is vague enough to question in the first place. In fact, the conference in my mind only summarized what the Conservatives should have done, they had the opportunity to win over the public, by being realistic and true. However, they fell into the same trap as Labour, and I'm afraid that only leaves the Lib Dems and UKIP, which is an even harder prospect is my eyes.

Jordan Ifield