The Conservatives and the f-word
Monday, September 24, 2012 at 13:27
Simon Clark

Surprisingly enjoyable event in Windsor on Saturday (see previous post).

Some familiar faces: James Delingpole, Toby Young, Tim Montgomerie (ConservativeHome), Mark Wallace, Simon Richards (Freedom Association), Donna Edmunds (Freedom Matters), Matthews Elliot and Sinclair (TaxPayers Alliance) and many more – 140 in total.

I didn't hear Young or Delingpole speak because I was frantically revising my own ten-minute speech, but if the laughter I could hear was anything to go by then they were on good form. I understand that Delingpole even startled one or two delegates with the use of the f-word (and I don't mean 'freedom').

Ah, yes, freedom. This is such a huge subject that even 'Freedom and its limits', a marathon four-week series of debates organised by the Institute of Ideas several years ago, found it hard to reach a conclusion.

On Saturday three of us – Donna Edmunds, Simon Richards and me – were given one short session to answer the question 'Is the Conservative party still the party of freedom?'.

The problem is, freedom means very different things to different people. One of my favourite films is The Lives of Others which highlights the surveillance activities of the Stasi in East Germany in the 1980s. I have blogged about my week in Moscow in 1981 and this film conveys perfectly the claustrophobic, fearful yet curiously optimistic environment I encountered.

The point is, the war on tobacco can pale into insignificance compared to the loss of other freedoms. Indeed, a few weeks ago I addressed a small group of Russian journalists on the subject of smoking bans. One or two laughed when I described the misery the ban has inflicted on some people in the UK. Perhaps my message got lost in translation but I got the impression that in the context of even recent Russian history, the freedom to smoke in public places is considered a rather minor issue.

Anyway, I did my best on Saturday to explain the significance of the war on tobacco and why it matters. I argued, for example, that it's a microcosm of what's wrong with society (and the Conservative party) because it breeds intolerance and extremism. It encourages the abuse of science and statistics and much more. Ultimately, I said, the war on tobacco has resulted in a shocking abuse of power, often by unelected mandarins in Whitehall.

New Labour, I suggested, had abandoned economic socialism, which had failed, and replaced it with lifestyle socialism with very little opposition from a largely compliant Conservative party. I talked about the impact of the smoking ban (which the Conservative-led Coalition government had failed to review), explained how the Coalition had gone ahead with the display ban, and was now considering plain packaging. "Whatever happened to the party of business, de-regulation and personal responsibility?" I asked.

Encouraged by one or two nodding heads (although I think I may have alienated a few people too), I finished by saying, "The Conservatives may be the best we have got but, no, I don't think the Conservative party is the party of freedom".

After Donna and Simon had spoken there was no time for questions but later, in the bar, opinions on smoking seemed to be split because for every person who tapped me on the shoulder to say they agreed with me, someone else would tell me how much they hated the smell of tobacco smoke.

Ours was the last session of the day and after we finished we walked across the road to the Guildhall where there was a drinks reception. The Mayor was there to welcome us and we drank English sparkling wine in a beautiful, high-ceiled room featuring portraits of the Queen, Prince Philip, Charles I, Queen Anne and many more. (The Mayor told us that Elton John got 'married' here but Charles and Camilla chose the room next door so they couldn't be seen by photographers outside.)

My son and I enjoyed a long chat with Professor Roger Scruton who was later to give a charming, entertaining yet thoughtful after dinner speech. (How unlike most politicians!) I also met David Carpenter, a great fan of Chris Snowdon's work and an occasional reader of this blog. We spent most of the time talking about Cuba, which is where his wife comes from, and a country I hope to visit next year.

Over dinner in the hotel we shared a table with an equally entertaining group of people – a second year student from Durham University, a former member of the SAS now doing an MBA, an Oxford graduate now working in recruitment (later spied having a crafty cigarette outside) and several more.

A few weeks ago this event was described as a Rebel Tory party conference. In reality, although there was some private grumbling about Cameron and Osborne, this was no rebellion and I don't expect any serious challenge to current Government (or Conservative) policy this side of a general election.

In general, however, this was a useful, well-organised event that brought back memories of what Conservative conferences used to be like.

Article originally appeared on Simon Clark (http://taking-liberties.squarespace.com/).
See website for complete article licensing information.