And another thing…

I THINK my last post was far too subtle for its own good.

Just to be clear: I was not suggesting that belief in man-made climate change is in itself “progressive”; trust in objective science, whatever its conclusion, is progressive. I was simply trying to make the point that David Cameron is either (a) wildly out of step with his own party in the policy stances he has adopted since becoming leader; or (b) has the same view as most of his members on the minimum wage, grammar schools and climate change (as represented by most of the Tory blogs and the various Tory commenters here) and is therefore being profoundly dishonest.

The alternative to (a) and (b) is (c): that the majority of Tory Party members wholeheartedly support the minimum wage, oppose expansion of grammar schools and believe action to halt or mitigate the effects of man-made global warming is urgently needed.

Which do you think is more likely?

And since we’re talking about blogs, let me ask this genuine question: can someone point me to an established, popular Tory blog which has advocated the positions in (c)?

SURGERIES in my constituency will prevent me from attending the House on Friday, which is a pity because I would dearly have loved to help stick the boot into Tory MP Christopher Chope’s odious little bill abolishing the National Minimum Wage (NMW).

Chope, supported by 11 of his colleagues, will seek to get a second reading for his ironically-entitled Employment Opportunities Bill. Here’s the key part of it:

That’s right, the Bill would give workers the right to “opt out” of the minimum wage. In other words, the Bill would abolish the minimum wage, and make it voluntary.

Now, you’ll be relieved to hear that it has no chance of getting a second reading, even without my presence, because there will be plenty of Labour MPs there to stop it. But it’s a sobering thought. “Support” for the minimum wage, like “support” for membership of the EU, is one of theose policies that has been swallowed by a reluctant Tory Party desperate to convince the voters that it’s changed, that it’s ditched its extremism.

It hasn’t. It no more supports the minimum wage now than it did before the 1997 election. And if the only reason Chope’s Bill will fall is because Labour has more MPs than any other party, how safe would the minimum wage be if the Tories were in the majority?

Visit the site of Wage Concern, the campaign against the Employment Opportunities Bill, by clicking here.