Dorries resignation reflections

This column was published in the Cornish Guardian on Wednesday 30th August 2023:

Being a Liberal means listening to everyone with an open mind, not just agreeing or disagreeing with everything someone says because of who they are.

I don't often agree with Nadine Dorries, but in her (long overdue) resignation letter, she made some astute observations. 

“Levelling up has been discarded and with it, those deprived communities it sought to serve.” As one of the poorest parts of the UK, Cornwall stood to gain the most from levelling up, so the failure to match the rhetoric with real cash has been a devastating blow to our economy. Cornwall was due to receive £100 million per year from the EU, but since Brexit the UK Government has given us less than half that amount.

Dorries said “Social care, ready to be launched, [has been] abandoned along with the hope of all of those who care for the elderly and the vulnerable.” Again, this is absolutely correct. Last week I met with Cornwall Council’s Strategic Director for Adult Social Care who confirmed that the care cost cap promised by the Conservatives in their 2019 General Election manifesto has now been delayed until October 2025 (i.e. after the next General Election).

Dorries continues: “Our commitment to net zero, animal welfare and the green issues” has been “squandered”... “because you [Sunak] simply do not care about the environment or the natural world”... ”In your impatience to become prime minister you put your personal ambition above the stability of the country and our economy”... “You have abandoned the fundamental principles of Conservatism. History will not judge you kindly.”

Dorries' critique is correct, but why is it that Conservative MPs only seem to develop the ability to spot the failings of their leaders after they have announced their retirement?

During the 2019 General Election campaign, I sat beside our local MP at a hustings for local farmers. She told them that they had nothing to fear from Brexit, because the Conservative Government wouldn’t sign any trade deals which allowed food produced to lower standards to enter the UK. When the election was over, fellow Cornish Conservative MP George Eustice was promoted to become the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Eustice went on to negotiate trade deals which will allow food from New Zealand and Australia to be sold in the UK, despite being produced in ways which are illegal for UK farmers. After being sacked by Liz Truss, Eustice admitted that the Australia deal was “not actually very good”, but missed the vote which could have stopped it. Cornwall’s other five Conservative MPs all voted to support the deal, breaking their 2019 promises to Cornwall’s farmers.

The Conservatives have “discarded” and “abandoned” both Cornwall and the “fundamental principles” for which they were elected: Perhaps it’s time for Cornwall to discard and abandon the Conservatives!