02/28/2024
Above, British Patriot Lee Anderson, and London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
In 2019, I wrote Conservative Victory In UK Shows Path Forward For Trump’s GOP, If They Have The Wit To See It. The 2020 Trump campaign did not, in fact, have the wit (remember the Platinum Plan?) but as it turned out neither did the British Conservatives (also known as “Tories” — who date back to the 17th century and have been described as “the most successful political party in the world”). They threw away that great victory, presided over a massive increase in immigration, and now face an electoral wipeout unparalleled in modern political history — which they seem almost eager to embrace [Tories face being reduced to 80 seats, poll of 18,000 voters suggests, by Poppy Wood, The I, February 19, 2024]. In U.S. terms, it’s as if the GOP were more anxious to be popular inside the Beltway than win elections. (Oh, wait…)
Thus the Tories just suspended one of their members for lèse-majesté against London’s Pakistani-stock Mayor Sadiq Khan, thus providing an opening for various Leftist groups to demand more investigations [Muslim group demands Tories investigate ‘structural Islamophobia,’ by Tara Cobham, Independent, February 25, 2024].
Yet even as leading Tory figures join the suicidal self-immolation, at least some MPs are tired of surrender [Tories demand Lee Anderson be given the whip back in Red Wall MP revolt, by Sam Lister, Express, February 26, 2024]. The ultimate question — will the UK get a patriot party that will stand for national preservation? [Will Britain Get a New Right Party?, by John Lloyd, Quillette, August 23, 2023]
The latest self-inflicted wound on the Tories came when MP Lee Anderson said that Islamists had “got control of London” as well as London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Labour leader Keir Starmer. “People are just turning up in their thousands, and doing anything they want, and they are laughing at our police. This stems with Khan, he’s actually given our capital city away to his mates,” he was quoted as saying [Lee Anderson refuses to apologize for Islamist claim about Sadiq Khan, by Kate Whannel, BBC, February 26, 2024]. The Tory leadership responded by essentially banishing him from his own party in Parliament [Tories suspend MP over criticism of London mayor, by Thomas Mackintosh, BBC, February 25, 2024].
This didn’t come about in a vacuum. House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle — in the British system, a supposedly neutral arbiter — prompted furious scenes by allowing an immediate vote on a ceasefire in Gaza, contrary to procedure, out of his reported concern that members could be placed in danger by Islamic protesters if they didn’t record their vote [U.K. Commons Speaker Faces More Calls to Resign After Chaotic Gaza Ceasefire Debate, by Armani Syed and Anna Gordon, Time, February 23, 2024].
Similarly, homosexual Tory Justice Minister Mike Freer said he was resigning earlier this month in response to death threats and murder attempts from Muslims [MPs plead for security help after Tory minister quits over death threats, by Adam Forrest, Independent, February 24, 2024].
And Britain’s counter-terrorism chief Matt Jukes has warned of increased “radicalization” online over Gaza — but, because this is Britain, what he’s really worried about is people speaking out on social media; and the possible influence of Iran, China, and Russia [Police warn of rising threat of terror attack in UK due to radicalization sparked by Israel-Gaza conflict, by John Dunne, Evening Standard, January 27, 2024].
Of course, as a simple glimpse at the massive pro-Palestine protests will show, the real issue is the enormous U.K. Muslim population, which is far more concerned about the struggle in the Middle East than the conquered country they occupy.
Thus the upcoming by-election in Rochdale focused almost entirely on Gaza, with George Galloway likely to make his return to Parliament on the issue [George Galloway firm favourite to win chaotic Rochdale by-election, by James Hockaday, Yahoo, February 26, 2024].
Naturally, the Main Stream Media has decided the real issue is Islamophobia among Tories [The Tory party must now open its eyes to the Islamophobia within its ranks, Independent, February 26, 2024]. Homza Yousaf, the “Scottish nationalist” leader who is far more concerned about Palestine and, like Edward I, thinks the problem with Scotland is there are too many Scots, wants an “independent investigation” into the Tories for “Islamophobia” [Tories riddled with Islamophobia, says Humza Yousaf, by Simon Johnson, Telegraph, February 27, 2024].
It’s a powerful indication of the way Leftists reflexively move to criminalize their political enemies for newly invented thoughtcrime. In another example of this technique, Labour Party chair Anneliese Dodds nonsensically demanded that Britain’s Indian-stock Prime Minister Rishi Sunak “investigate” Liz Truss for “promoting conspiracy theories” (aka she mentioned the Deep State when she spoke at the recent boring CPAC in Washington, D.C. [Labour Chair: Rishi Sunak Must Investigate Liz Truss For ‘Propagating Conspiracy Theories’ At CPAC, by David Gilmour, Mediaite, February 26, 2024].
Sunak said that Anderson’s comments were “unacceptable” and “wrong” and of course denied that the Tories were racist; half-black Home Secretary James Cleverly ran to the media to demand Anderson apologize [Cleverly joins calls for Lee Anderson to apologize over Sadiq Khan comments, by Elanor Barlow and Sophie Wingate, Irish News, February 27, 2024]. Sayeeda Warsi, who was the first Muslim Tory to be in the Cabinet, complained that the party was being “dragged into the gutter” and Pakistani-born Tory MP Rehman Chishti said the Prime Minister thinks he doesn’t need Muslim voters [Politics latest: Tories turn on Sunak over ‘unacceptable’ stance on Islamophobia row, PoliticsHub, February 26, 2024].
But something funny happened in the midst of this self-sabotage and weakness — Lee Anderson didn’t play along. Instead, he doubled down. Accurately noting that it would be a sign of weakness if he apologized when he thought he was right, he said that Mayor Khan showed political bias when it came to protest marches, and insisted that “we’ve got to get Khan out at the elections in May” [Lee Anderson Doubles Down And Insists He Won’t Apologise For Sadiq Khan Attack, by Kevin Schofield, HuffPost, February 26, 2024].
Suella Braverman, herself of Indian immigrant stock, denounced the “hysteria” surrounding Anderson’s comments and instead said there needs to be an increased focus on “Islamic extremism” [Tory Islamophobia row is ‘hysteria,’ says Braverman, by Amy Gibbons, The Telegraph, February 26, 2024].
Braverman has already won herself a reputation on the Right for breaking with H.M. Government on its failure to enforce its promises on immigration [Suella Braverman Is Braver Than Her Critics, by Gregory Hood, American Renaissance, November 16, 2023].
Truss herself is calling for a more right-wing Conservative Party, saying that the Tories have been too afraid to tackle Leftist extremism [Former British PM Liz Truss announces new political movement ahead of polls, Al Jazeera, February 6, 2024]. Her speech at CPAC has to be seen as part of this effort. Her fate may now be tied to Anderson’s, as Labour wants her to lose her whip position as well for appearing at CPAC [Labour calls for Liz Truss and Lee Anderson to lose Conservative whip, by Kevin Rawlinson, The Guardian, February 24, 2024].
Meanwhile, the new patriot party Reform UK appears to be growing, winning a significant share of rural voters [Rural right-wing voters abandon Tories in huge switch to Reform UK, by Will Hazell, The Telegraph, February 25, 2024]. The party appears to actually be beating the Liberal Democrats [What is Reform UK? Right-wing party ahead of Lib Dems in recent polling, by Syraat Al Mustaqeem and Nuray Bulbul, AOL, February 16, 2024].
However, the party lacks a true star with media presence. Brexit champion Nigel Farage has kept his distance. He, like others on the British Right, may be waiting to see if they will be able to redirect the Tories after an election defeat [When’s Nigel coming back?’ Farage absence looms large over Reform UK conference, by Michael Savage, The Guardian, February 24, 2024].
The opportunity for some actual patriot policies — including the critical issue of remigration — has opened now that British-born Muslim Shamima Begum, who joined ISIS as a teen and was consequently stripped of UK citizenship, has lost her bid to recover it [Shamima Begum loses bid to regain UK citizenship, by Andre Rhoden-Paul and Dominic Casciani, BBC, February 23, 2024].
Incredibly, the supposedly right-wing Jacob Rees-Mogg, who likes to cosplay as if he’s an avatar of the traditional British upper class, wailed that the decision is “racist” and “wrong” [Jacob Rees-Mogg says decision to strip Shamima Begum of UK citizenship is ‘racist’ and ‘wrong,’ by Mark Paul, Irish Times, February 26, 2024].
What exactly does it mean to be British then? For that matter, what does it mean to be a Conservative? Polls of Conservative Party members show the voters are crying out for a conservative leader, but the party bureaucracy simply won’t give it to them [Tories must embrace traditional Conservative values to win back voters, poll suggests, by Will Hazell, The Telegraph, February 17, 2024]. They would rather lose than represent the people they clearly despise.
After fourteen years in power, after repeated election victories on a mandate to deliver immigration restriction and turn back the Leftist Cultural Revolution, the Tories now are weak, cucking, and desperate to appease their enemies.
Of course It won’t work, hence the coming catastrophic defeat. Perhaps this is necessary so that they can be reconstituted, or a new party can take their place.
Yet with Labour already gearing up to exercise its power, it may be too late for Britain. The final epitaph for the world’s “most successful political party” may be this — they gave away the country, they gave it away without a fight, and they gave it away for nothing.
One is reminded about Winston Churchill’s quote about the choice between shame and war — they choose shame and will have war.
James Kirkpatrick [Tweet him @VDAREJamesK] is a Beltway veteran and a refugee from Conservatism Inc. His latest book is Conservatism Inc.: The Battle for the American Right. Read VDARE.com Editor Peter Brimelow’s Preface here.
This is a content archive of VDARE.com, which Letitia James forced off of the Internet using lawfare.