Inspectors All Round Whoever We Vote For

Simon Heffer, writing in the Telegraph, has been talking of freedom and autonomy of the individual.

In the long years of Tory rule, those who reminded the electorate that with a Labour government you also got socialist control were dismissed as scaremongers. However, it is true, and we now see it is true.

Too right it is. The Tories have been mentioning this since the 50s, when a vote for them was a vote to be able to 'call your soul your own'.


It's only the existence of a prolonged Labour administration which has conclusively proven that the Tories were correct. Their doom-laden warnings were justified.

We live in a country where harmless people taking pictures of cathedrals are warned off by police invoking anti-terrorism laws; where the same legislation is used to regulate the positioning of wheelie bins; where smoking is banned even in public places whose owners wish to allow it; where the hunting of vermin is banned even on the land of those who wish to have it hunted. All these invasions of individual autonomy have taken place since 1997.

And then some, Simon. And then some.

It could have been worse. We could have had identity cards, forcing a citizen to prove his or her right to be here, or to admit who he or she is, despite having committed no offence. We could have had a national DNA database. We could have had a law that prevented comedians telling jokes about religion. We could have had the restriction of jury trials. We could have had people locked up without trial for 90 days because the police are incapable of finding any evidence upon which to convict them of something. We could have criminalised people for being nutters, for that is one of the best words to describe those poisonous idiots who claim Auschwitz was just a film set and the genocide of the Jews didn't happen. All these things have been discussed or proposed by Labour in varying degrees of seriousness, but – so far – have not been inflicted on our people. However, they show a certain, and unpleasant, cast of mind.

They do indeed.

But then, considering the Tories have been warning us about the perils of socialist control for decades, isn't it quite astounding that their current crop display exactly the same mindset?

On alcohol, James Brokenshire.

"Conservatives would strengthen controls on licensing, ban below-cost sales of alcohol and use targeted taxes on high strength products"

Chris Grayling agrees.

"Irresponsible" promotions such "all you can drink" or the "dentist's chair" will be subject to a blanket ban as part of a new mandatory code for licencees.

Chris Grayling, the shadow Home Secretary, said: "This is the third time the Government has announced this initiative, what we need to do now is get on with tackling the problem."

Hurry up with the bansturbatory legislation, already!

And, of course, David Cameron has made his views on personal responsibility and property rights abundantly clear.

"I’m just not a banner. But you know, I think the country has moved on, and people have accepted the smoking ban.”

Of course we have. That's why this man is still languishing in jail. Err ... isn't he?

We'll leave Tory dictatorial plans on green issues, the public's food preferences, and intrusive surveillance for now. Needless to say that that their policies thus far aren't overly appealing, but what can one expect when Cameron himself has boasted publicly that he abhors libertarianism.

We're still being led to the polling booths on a vague 'nudge nudge, wink wink' basis by Tory supporters with regard to personal freedoms. While their party's public pronouncements signal the exact opposite.

Oh yeah, we'll not mention the Conservatives' reticence to stand up to the EU either. Which, as Ranting Stan points out, is a significant source of authoritarian interference.

That soul the Tories were talking about earlier ... you didn't really need it, did you?