In his letter of no confidence in Boris Johnson’s premiership, Member of Parliament Dr Jesse Norman stated on 6th June 2022:
People are crying out for good government and for warm, engaged, unifying and constructive leadership, in the service of a vision all can believe in.
Dr Norman’s words could well be applied to any western government. Such words identify a persistent problem, not confined to particular leaders. And they reveal Dr Norman’s underlying problem: fear that people won’t vote Conservative next time.
Getting rid of Boris Johnson may solve an image problem, but it won’t solve the fundamental problem of the British Conservative party. In fact Dr Jesse Norman MP is part of that problem.
“Partygate” has precipitated this manufactured leadership crisis. “Partygate” raised the question of official hypocrisy over Covid 19 restrictions. But the real issue here is the stupidity of trying to regulate the ordinary everyday interactions of human beings – not whether Boris Johnson had a drink with work colleagues.
The failure to see this fundamental issue is a symptom of Politicians failure to understand their true task: to represent at the heart of law-making and of government the realities of everyday life experienced by ordinary people . Instead they are too busy listening to experts…
Conservative Party Politicians now fail to understand Conservatism. In his letter [# below] Dr Norman makes reference to Johnson’s attitude to the EU over the current Irish border arrangements. He also talks about the Rwanda policy to remove illegal immigrants as “ugly”, “counterproductive” and of “doubtful legality”. Thus Dr Norman betrays the confused thinking of the modern democratic politician. He talks about legality according to warped woke conceptions – conceptions divorced from their historic, real world meaning.
Illegal immigration is illegal, Dr Norman: it deeply disturbs the law abiding citizen and it costs that law-abiding citizenry serious money. In the real world most of us experience, only a drastic measure like deportation to Rwanda will stem the tide of illegal entries and so undermine the market on which evil traffickers in human lives depend. Australia has proved this policy works. In fact no illegal immigrant need be deported to Rwanda – its their own choice to quit the safety of France and the EU, Dr Norman. Get real, please !
Northern Ireland is a problem because the EU is imposing its Customs border within the United Kingdom, and refusing to operate their side of the Agreement with the due care and attention appropriate to the competing Constitutional and Political interests in play.
Dr Norman, however, unashamedly promotes the EU view as objective truth, accusing Prime Minister Boris Johnson of illegality. But it is the duty of the British Prime Minister to secure the interests of the United Kingdom – not sell out to foreign interests and pressures. Dr Norman is either being naive or else disingenuous about the actual political dynamics in play here.
The fundamental issue is not Boris Johnson, whatever his flaws or merits. The fundamental issue here will persist whoever leads the British Conservative party.
That issue is about ideological identity and conviction in that identity.
The religious spirit and paradigm operating in the hierarchy of the British Conservative party is the hypocritical, Utopian creed of Woke. The apostles of Materialism and Left wing Idealism have systematically displaced the centuries old adherence to Christianity.
Evidence ?
Why was the Thanksgiving service celebrating the Queens Platinum Jubilee scheduled for Friday 3rd June, and not for Pentecost Sunday, the 5th June ?
After all, the Queen is the supreme governor of the Church of England. The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations coincided with the celebration of the coming of the Holy Spirit to empower the Church to live for God, not self.
Totally unacceptable to the cancel culture of our Woke Establishment. A Conservative Party government allowed the most important event of these celebrations to be minimised. Christian Religion embarrasses modern Conservatives; and this rival religion is intolerable to the Man-centred Religion of woke.
But in reality, Christianity is vital and central. Edmund Burke first framed the philosophy of modern Conservatism in his Reflections in the Revolution in France. In Reflections he is explicit about the central priority of Christian faith.
Our church establishment ….. is first and last in our minds ….. this consecration is made that all who administer the government of men … should not look …to the temporary and transient praise of the vulgar, but … to … fame and glory in the example they leave……All persons possessing any portion of power ought to be strongly and awfully impressed with an idea that they act in trust, and that they are to account for their conduct in that trust to the one great Master, Author and Founder of Society.
[ ## See paragraphs 149 following in my edition of Edmund Burke’s Reflections in the Revolution in France]
Yoram Hazony is Chairman of the Burke Foundation in the USA. Hazony’s new book is titled “Conservatism: A Rediscovery” [#### below]. As the American Reformer [### below] review of Hazony’s book states:
Certain moral realities must underlie the principles and policies for which Hazony contends: personal moral transformation (chapter 3), and an acknowledgement of God and scripture (chapter 4), come before his discussion of what government should do (chapter 5)
Now, Dr Norman is also well acquainted with Edmund Burke. In fact he published the latest biography of Edmund Burke in 2014. But Dr Norman’s book credits Burke with no such concern for Christian religion. In fact Norman’s book is yet another prima facie example of Oxbridge Experts deleting Christianity from the history of the British people.
Such arrogant elitists impose their personal prejudice by censoring the record of our common heritage. They treat with utter contempt the express commandments of God – Thou shalt have no other gods before me …… thou shalt not bow down thyself to them nor serve them …..Thou shalt not bear false witness …
The parliamentary Conservative party would do better to heed Burke’s wisdom and to obey God’s Commandments than to depose a leader elected with an 80 seat majority on the express mandate to “get Brexit done !”
GRC
# Dr Norman’s no confidence letter
## Catlin edition of Burke’s Reflections
### American Reformer review of Yoram Hazony’s book “Conservatism: a Rediscovery”
Conservatism Institute 