The Conservatives Have Already Given Up

The Tory campaign only makes sense if you understand it is not actually about winning the election.

I’m pleased to report that the election has prompted a nice little uptick in subscriber numbers and, even more gratifyingly, an increase in paid patrons. As ever, I’m very grateful to you all for your support. If you enjoy The Debatable Land please do share it with chums and on social media.

At first glance, the Conservative campaign in the early stages of this general election seems utterly baffling. This is especially the case if you labour under the misapprehension that the Conservative campaign is actually about winning the election. As we shall see, this is not the case.

The big announcement (sic) is a half-cocked plan for National Service, forcing every 18 year old in the country to spend one weekend a month “volunteering” for some ill-defined sense of community service. Or for the armed forces.

This is to be paid for by raiding £2.5bn from the “Shared Prosperity Fund” that was originally supposed to fund so-called “levelling up” projects around the country. This, you may recall…