Douglas Carswell's Blog

Less government isn't unpopular. Its never been on offer

"We contemplate" writes Ben Brogan in today's Telegraph "less tax, less spending, a greater tolerance of failure and risk - and we shy away".

Small state conservatism, implies Ben, just isn't popular with the punters.

Really? They might try to encourage pundits to think that way in Westminster, but when was small state conservatism actually on offer to those outside the SW1 bubble?

Far from making the case for "less tax, less spending", Tory opposition spokesmen spent most of the previous decade telling the country how they would "share the proceeds of growth". How did that work out?

When one spokesman mentioned making big tax cuts, they sacked him.

The idea that we have advocated "greater tolerance of failure" is ridiculous. Which bank bailouts did we oppose? The government is inching towards the state rationing of credit.

As for the point about risk, we might have grumbled each time Labour put in place new nannying regulation, but which parts of the 'elf, safety and CRB checks apparatus have we dismantled? This week, I discovered a school teacher cannot give a sick child in their care a paracetamol.

It is not the voters who "shy away" from the small state alternative, but those in Westminster and Whitehall too timid to contemplate less government.

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