PM's ally: our party activists are 'loons'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/poli...are-loons.html
PM’s ally: our party activists are 'loons’
Grassroots Conservative activists are “mad swivel-eyed loons” who are forcing Tory MPs to take extremist positions opposing gay marriage and Europe, one of David Cameron’s closest allies has said.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Telegraph
The comments, from a member of the Prime Minister’s inner circle, come amid recent rifts between Mr Cameron and his party over Coalition policies.
The remarks were made by a senior figure in the Conservative Party who has strong social connections to the Prime Minister. “There’s really no problem,” the Conservative figure said about the parliamentary turmoil. “The MPs just have to do it because the associations tell them to, and the associations are all mad swivel-eyed loons.”
Grassroots campaigners said tonight that the comments showed “utter disregard” for the party’s membership and showed Mr Cameron is out of touch.
More than 150 Conservative MPs are expected to vote against Mr Cameron’s plans to legalise same-sex marriage next week when the legislation returns to the House of Commons.
This week, 116 Conservative backbenchers – more than half the total – voted to criticise Mr Cameron’s Queen’s Speech programme for failing to include legislation on a European Union referendum.
Since he became Conservative leader in 2005, Mr Cameron has pursued a “modernising” social agenda. Intended to win the support of people who have not backed the Tories in recent years, many of his policies have angered traditional Conservatives. Douglas Carswell, the MP for Clacton who has criticised Mr Cameron over Europe and gay marriage, said the comments showed the leadership’s contempt for the grassroots.
“The Conservative Party has haemorrhaged members since 2005, but my own association in Clacton has massively expanded its membership. Instead of treating the membership as the enemy, the modernisers should respect them as shareholders,” he said.
“If you treat the membership as the problem, you will eventually end up with a membership of one.”
Another MP said the Cameron circle’s “caricature view” of the party’s members was counterproductive. “Slagging off your troops is not the way to win your battles,” the MP said.
The Conservative Party does not publish figures for its membership, but insiders say it has fallen sharply in the past decade. In its 2003 leadership contest, more than 300,000 Tories were eligible to vote. Today, unofficial estimates put the figure below 150,000.
Grant Shapps, the Conservative chairman, is understood to be studying new techniques for increasing public involvement with the party by using internet-based social networks and local community groups.
Some party insiders fear that a shrinking membership is putting MPs under increased pressure to reject some Government policies. One Conservative MP privately confirmed that he would vote against gay marriage under pressure from local members. He said: “I don’t have a problem with gay marriage because the state has no business in our private lives. But I’ll vote against it because if I don’t I’ll lose half my association.”
Grassroots Conservatives, a membership group, said Mr Cameron was out of touch issues such as gay marriage.
A spokesman said: “The leadership has shown utter disregard for the membership of the Conservative Party by pushing forward a modernising agenda and ditching traditional Conservative values. That has led to a sharp drop in membership and cost us votes.”
MPs will spend two days next week debating plans to allow homosexual couples to marry. Mr Cameron says that allowing gay people to marry will strengthen society. Critics, who include Conservative Cabinet ministers, say the plans will undermine the institution of marriage.
Unease over the plan has forced Mr Cameron to allow his MPs a free vote on the legislation, which is expected to pass with Labour and Liberal Democrat votes.
Philip Hammond, the Defence Secretary, this week became the most senior Conservative to speak out against the plans. Mr Hammond told the BBC there was “a real sense of anger” among many married people over the proposals.
A Downing Street spokesman said: “The Prime Minister thinks that the right process is being followed. The Government has set out the legislative programme and it is the right one.”
This year, France and New Zealand passed laws allowing gay marriage, as have several US states. Nick Herbert, a Conservative MP, said the tide of history was in favour of the change. He added: “Younger people can’t understand what all the fuss is about.”
Now whether you agree with gay marriage and other issues, I don't know. It may be that your completely socially liberal and disagree with pretty much all of social conservatism - and that's a valid position as it is vice versa. However, the point here is that here you have a Conservative Party (the clue is in the name) pushing unconservative ideas such as gay marriage and having our laws made by a foreign power in Brussels - and naturally, members of the Conservative Party don't like it because that isn't what the Conservative Party is supposed to do.
For the insult, I say again how this is a dying party that no longer stands for anything. Insulting the grassroots (the people who go out and canvass, leaflet, campaign and raise money for the party) is pretty much fulfilling a death wish - as is pushing gay marriage which has won them no votes, and lost them many Christian and social conservative votes forever. Heck, I have even read reports of some associations basically halving in membership over this issue, because the grassroots have been pushed to breaking point where they question why are they even bothering?
What Melanie Phillips says in the short video below about insulting voters pretty much rings true to this example, worth a watch:
As Farage has said before - the Tory Party used to talk about entrepreneurism, jobs and growth... now it talks about gay marriage and wind farms. Is it any wonder why members are leaving the blues on their tens of thousands?
Thoughts?
