Republicanism and Liberalism

[Rhyfelwyr]

American conservatives are nancy boys. Real conservatives know that strong government, firm government, a government that knows how to put a bit of stick about, is vital to make a country great.

Well said. What happened to the conservative idea of the welfare state?

Well I suppose the new right is what happened, but I don't understand why social conservatism cannot coincide with somewhat socialist economic principles.

[King Henry V]

Well said. What happened to the conservative idea of the welfare state?

Well I suppose the new right is what happened, but I don't understand why social conservatism cannot coincide with somewhat socialist economic principles.

Quite right. Conservatism itself means restraint: restraint of the excesses of personal irresponsibility as well as restraint of the excesses of the market. One Nation Conservatism used to be the main brand of conservatism, but sadly since the days of Mrs Thatcher, this is no longer the case (what can one expect from the daughter of a Whig?). The primary purpose of government should be to make a country strong, a country of which its citizens can be proud. There are certain things which a government must provide for the good of the social fabric of a country: a strong sense of law and order, wide-reaching infrastructure such as post offices and railways (Britain's rail network is now the joke of the Western world, and rightly so), a decent health service and education system, a well-funded military and state pensions which ensure a decent standard of living.
Mrs Thatcher's legacy of social division, of "Us and Them", of an obsession with "making things pay for themselves" as the be-all and end-all of their purpose has left Britain sadly weakened.

[Rhyfelwyr]

Quite right. Conservatism itself means restraint: restraint of the excesses of personal irresponsibility as well as restraint of the excesses of the market. One Nation Conservatism used to be the main brand of conservatism, but sadly since the days of Mrs Thatcher, this is no longer the case (what can one expect from the daughter of a Whig?). The primary purpose of government should be to make a country strong, a country of which its citizens can be proud. There are certain things which a government must provide for the good of the social fabric of a country: a strong sense of law and order, wide-reaching infrastructure such as post offices and railways (Britain's rail network is now the joke of the Western world, and rightly so), a decent health service and education system, a well-funded military and state pensions which ensure a decent standard of living.
Mrs Thatcher's legacy of social division, of "Us and Them", of an obsession with "making things pay for themselves" as the be-all and end-all of their purpose has left Britain sadly weakened.

I have never so wholeheartedly agreed with the sentiment of a post in the Backroom for a long, long time.