Cllr. Gavin Ayling

At this evening’s Council Meeting covering the possible future closure of the local Accident and Emergency at Worthing Hospital, Cllr. Keith Dollemore made a considered statement about the effect the closures would have on the older, more vulnerable and poorer people who need to use public transport to visit loved ones etc.

And from the public gallery I overheard a former Labour Councillor who lost his seat this May. He said something about caring for the poor being the concern of “socialist”s.

This highlights one of the great failures of Conservatives and one of the great successes of Labour. Labour has managed, through years of lying, to get people to believe that Conservatives do not care about the plight of the poor, vulnerable and needy.

The comment was wrong because Conservatives really do care and the evidence I have seen suggests that they care more than many other parties’ members.

The same is true of many other policy areas. The environment, it is oft-said, is not an area of strength for Conservatives. But Conservative Councils recycle more. The trouble is people see inaction on greenhouse gas emissions as either scientifically unsound or a reflection of the Conservative don’t-care attitude. But Conservatives understand something even more fundamental: Without wealth, without business creating wealth and giving it to its staff, the economy cannot provide anything for its people.

People see large Range Rovers and say “That’s unnecessary for the town” but where else in public life do we have the right to tell people what they may buy? Range Rover owners are paying disproportionate tax and, if the government really cared, this would be being spent on green research etc. But it is not.

Personally I have recently had an anti-David Attenborough moment, but that’s not the point I’m trying to make.

Conservatives care more about the things that matter but they also carry around their fair share of pragmatism. Don’t have overly-powerful unions because, whatever the good intention, you will damage the economy that people rely on. Don’t positively discriminate for ethnic minorities because, whatever the good intention, it will fuel racial prejudice, it will damage self-esteem and it will, ultimately, fail. Don’t stop people from buying cars because without cars the economy would fail… There are many businesses and other parts of our economy that rely on them. By all means, try and find a solution, but don’t try and find a solution despite the facts!

And this is why Conservatives recycle so much more: Recycling is a win-win, pragmatic activity. Don’t overfill the countryside with landfill, don’t waste finite resources of aluminium, steel, oil etc, recycle for free and have your cake and eat it. A survey has not been done of the political make-up of those who own energy-saving light bulbs, but I think I am on safe ground in saying that Tories will have them for the two obvious reasons: They cost less to run and they cost less when you count all the separate purchases of normal bulbs. That they help protect the environment as well: that’s a happy extra.