WI: A more right-wing David Cameron

Castlereagh

Banned
Hey - I didn't say that not having an opposable thumb was a BAD thing.

But seriously, I was trying to convey exactly how much contempt the British mainstream has for these sort of policies. Which they do associate, not inappropriately, with Red States. And hence with (and here ymmv) with the most unacceptable forms of racism, low political IQ and appalling campaign tactics, and corruption. These things being especially true of middle class floating voters. Associating himself with "Merkanism" in this way would probably have been the most self-destructive thing that Cameron could have done, short of declaring that he'd joined AQ. And maybe not even that.

Amusing considering the same goes on in Northern Ireland.
 
Amusing considering the same goes on in Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland is, to put it mildly, a society apart from the rest of the UK. Using NI as indicative of British politics is like using San Francisco as indicative of American politics; it's a very distorted lense. If you think that simply because its present in NI, it would be recieved well in the rest of the UK, then frankly I don't think you have much of a handle on either of the societies in question.
 
You're not going to get the Tories to support all or most of the policies on that list. There is public support for the death penalty in the UK but it's not a live political issue, backing it pisses off a large number of floating voters and traditionally it has been an issue of conscience. As for banning abortion, forget about it.

A Tory leader who backs somewhat tougher abortion laws and opposes gay marriage sotto voice (like Stephen Harper in Canada) is probably plausible but you're not going to get David Cameron to go on a serious socially conservative bender. As for the EU, an in/out referendum is I suppose a possibility but again, you need another Conservative leader. Cameron is basically a One Nation Tory updated for the 21st century (i.e. moderately Eurosceptic, economically Thatcherite and socially liberal). He's not someone inclined to radical gestures by nature.

Regarding immigration, whilst freezing it is popular there would be some very powerful voices with a lot of influence in the Conservative Party very much opposed (read: big business). You've also got the impression of racial prejudice that such a policy would leave amongst many voters, even if they approved of an immigration freeze in a vacuum.
 
What if, after being elected as Tory leader in 2005, David Cameron had taken the Conservative Party further to the right. A list of some of the party's (alternative) policies:

---- Hold an in-or-out referendum on the EU.

---- Protect traditional family values. Put heavy restrictions on abortions, and strongly oppose same-sex marriage.

---- Restore capital punishment for mass murderers.

---- Put a two-year freeze on immigration.

How would the Tories have done in 2010 with this kind of platform?

Completely implausible. Outside of Northern Ireland, there's no religious right in the UK that's relevant beyond the right-wing fringe of the Conservative Party. Hell, the places that vote Tory have a higher acceptance of evolution than places that vote Labour, probably most anti-science stupidity in the UK comes from Muslims, who tend to live in areas dominated by Labour or Lib Dems.
 
Completely implausible. Outside of Northern Ireland, there's no religious right in the UK that's relevant beyond the right-wing fringe of the Conservative Party. Hell, the places that vote Tory have a higher acceptance of evolution than places that vote Labour, probably most anti-science stupidity in the UK comes from Muslims, who tend to live in areas dominated by Labour or Lib Dems.

Do you have any evidence for these statements, seeing as you're happy to label a religion as stupid...
 
Indeed. Much better to stay in a country where two dimensional, racist stereotyping of people you disagree with is apparently a hallmark of civilised values:rolleyes:

Racist? I dont think anyone would count "southerner" as a race (possibly a different species from yankees but thats another matter).
 
What if, after being elected as Tory leader in 2005, David Cameron had taken the Conservative Party further to the right. A list of some of the party's (alternative) policies:

---- Hold an in-or-out referendum on the EU.

---- Protect traditional family values. Put heavy restrictions on abortions, and strongly oppose same-sex marriage.

---- Restore capital punishment for mass murderers.

---- Put a two-year freeze on immigration.

How would the Tories have done in 2010 with this kind of platform?

Absolutely implausiable. Apart from the fact that the religious right in Britain is very fringe, there is also the fact that Cameron has no reason to go to the right. It would lose him votes for starters, and secondly, he's not a right-winger in the Conservative Party. In America he would probably be a right-wing Democrat. I'll leave you to figure how plausiable that makes him doing the things you have listed.
 
Banning abortion wouldn't be too radical-after all Northern Ireland along with the rest of Ireland does not allow abortion anyways and its interesting to note while seven states have legalized gay marriage no part of the UK has.

We do have civil unions, and the Government might legalise gay marriage by 2015.
 
We do have civil unions, and the Government might legalise gay marriage by 2015.

The Prime Minister and the First Ministers of the devolved parliaments/assemblies on the mainland also personally support I believe. Only a matter of time.
 
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