Listen to the inflammatory language around immigration, multiculturalism, press freedom – that old notion of British ‘moderation’ has gone for ever
W
hile British rightwing politics has never been exactly a gentle pursuit, there is a longstanding assumption that its tone and content have limits. Enoch Powell’s “rivers of blood” speech, Oswald Mosley’s embrace of fascism, Keith Joseph’s 1974 speech apparently in favour of eugenics: each of these transgressions was punished and became infamous.
According to believers in this country’s political moderation, the mainstream British right does not make overt appeals to prejudice, encourage political violence, form alliances with the far right, or advocate authoritarianism here or abroad. Unlike in other democracies, such as interwar Germany, our conservatism has always had red lines.
Yet even if this reassuring picture was accurate in the past – and that is open to question – nowadays the British right appears to be on a much less cautious path. On law and order, immigration, net zero, multiculturalism, press freedom, the British empire, Donald Trump’s administration, the European convention on human rights, the condition of British cities and general state of the nation, leading Conservative and Reform UK figures routinely say inflammatory things, far outside the supposed bounds of responsible conservatism. This week, the chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, Gavin Stephens, without naming specific politicians, took the unusual step of warning that those “in a leadership position” should not “sow division”.
