As bombs exploded over much of the Middle East last weekend, the eyes of the world were not focused on an elegant Yorkshire spa town, renowned for its toffee and cream teas. Nevertheless, Harrogate is where what still calls itself the Conservative Party was gathered for its Spring Conference.
The demands of the event did not prevent the leader, Kemi Badenoch, from castigating Keir Starmer for his handling of the Iran situation. The shadow foreign secretary was quick to claim that the US and Israel were “absolutely justified” in their assault on Iran.
Donald Trump appeared unmoved by this: an understandable reaction, since the endorsement came from Priti Patel, who had to resign as a minister after holding secret meetings with Israeli officials in breach of the ministerial code. Brought back into government, she withstood intense pressure to resign for a second time, over allegations of bullying.
That Patel now holds such a senior role is evidence of the parlous state of the Tories. There is still some talent that Badenoch can use. For instance, during his brief time as prime minister, Rishi Sunak called David Cameron back from retirement to be foreign secretary. Whatever his failings, Cameron did carry some weight on the international scene. Badenoch and her front bench do not. In her Conservative Party, there is only room for one way of thinking – her own.
In her speech to the loyal followers who made it to Harrogate, she reiterated the proud boast that she had done her spring-cleaning early this year. “We have got rid of people who don’t share our values,” she declared.
That does not merely encompass those right wingers such as Danny Kruger and Suella Braverman who moved to Reform. There is no room in today’s Tory party for those who favour closer relations with the EU, and certainly none for any who supported Remain.
Which means that sensible, moderate and, most importantly, intelligent, people who still regard themselves as conservatives, no longer have a role in politics. Many have left the scene completely: David Gauke, Dominic Grieve and David Lidington, for instance.
Badenoch judges this to be success, ignoring the message that the opinion polls continue to blare at her. And now she has ambitions to do to the country what she has done to the party.
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On Saturday, she delivered a speech which would have shocked the genteel clients who used to gather and take the waters in the pump rooms. But this weekend, with people who self-identify as members of her version of the Conservative party, her words were probably as well received by her audience as a bumper breakfast from Betty’s famous café.
It began with the ritual castigation of Keir Starmer and his government and some rude and unnecessarily sexist sniping at chancellor Rachel Reeves. Then came the real meat. A few days earlier, she had revealed plans for the Culture and Integration Commission. The name alone is enough to spark visions of an Orwellian hell.
Badenoch’s view is that multi-culturalism has not worked in the UK. While there is plenty of evidence that people of many races and religions live in harmony all across the UK, there is certainly scope for improvement.
But Badenoch sees things in absolute terms and she has had enough of what she calls “separatism”. Her new Commission will tackle this perceived evil. It “will set out the culture that we want people to assimilate into. What we expect and what we will enforce”.
While that last word might come as a shock to sensitive souls, the Conservative leader relished it. “Conference, we are bringing enforcement back to this country,” she trilled. “We tried to be nice to everybody, avoided tough decisions and it didn’t work. No more.”
This might be taken as an appeal to all those Reform defectors, to get them running back to the Tory party as it heads out towards the extreme right. Or it might be Badenoch’s genuine belief that a monoculture can be enforced on a country. If so, it is a view that she shares with the Ayatollahs – ironic, considering her unadulterated support for Trump’s Iranian onslaught.
The good news is that Badenoch’s commission is very unlikely to go anywhere. The possibility that this Conservative party will ever have a majority seems very remote. In previous generations, the party has managed to stay in tune with a significant proportion of the country’s voters. Today, the emergence of other parties means Badenoch will never get to be prime minister.
But the fact that such resoundingly far-right rhetoric is now considered mainstream is in itself frightening. It is just as well that the world, including most of the UK media, had its attention focused elsewhere while Harrogate was hosting such nonsense.
