The Right Needs to Find a Way to Accommodate Tim Stanley

Trying to sell ice-creams and political parties has more in common than you might think. Magnum Classic, Almond, White, Mint. Singles and minis. You can get Magnums in multiple flavours and sizes.

If you’re a retailer, the Magnum Ice Cream Company can fill your fridge with their range. Everyone coming into the shop to buy an ice-cream has a choice, but it’s limited to the Magnum range.

The Right needs to emulate this approach. Currently we appear to be offering just the political equivalent of the Magnum Classic: out of the ECHR, out of Net Zero, out of the EU and illegal migrants out of here!

In my social circle we have EU ‘rejoiners’. Others who are first and second generation migrants. Mixed-race friends who instinctively fear overly heavy migration control. There are public sector employees, gays and members of a variety of minority groups. However, they all tend to share a common concern over taxation, growing state authoritarianism and the fear that their children are getting a less good inheritance than they enjoyed. Economically they tend to be either small or large ‘c’ conservatives – let’s not push them away in the pursuit of philosophical purity.

While most of us might settle for the Magnum Classic, we’re not a majority. To win back power we also need those looking for the political equivalent of the Almond, White or Mint flavour on the Right of British politics.

We achieve this by broadening the scope of the debate on the Right, not shutting it down.

The Right has allowed the Left to own too many issues that could just as well be claimed by the Right. Why is the Net Zero debate dominated by the Left? Arguably its greatest champion has been Elon Musk – hardly a socialist ‘pin-up’. There are very strong libertarian arguments in favour of meritocratic migration; it’s not inherently a Left-wing cause. There are plenty of British entrepreneurs who advocate rejoining the EU, and plenty of Right-of-Centre governments in power in EU member states.

There are some common beliefs on the Right. We all tend to believe in lower taxes, smaller government, national sovereignty, stricter immigration control and preserving traditional social norms, but beyond that there are a host of conflicting positions that are all perfectly legitimate.

I’m delighted when I see Net Zero and membership of the ECHR debated between people on the Right. The recent Telegraph climate change debate between Tim Stanley and Lord David Frost was exactly what should be encouraged. If Tim Stanley and his fellow travellers are hounded out, their likely next stop is with the Lib Dems. By making Net Zero a shibboleth we strengthen our real enemies.

After all, abandoning the prevailing Net Zero requirements doesn’t mean scrapping the existing wind turbines or smashing solar farms. Rather, it means scaling back subsidies and making renewable energy generation pay its way. Advocates of renewables keep telling us how cheap they are – well, let them show us. These are positions that should sit comfortably on the Right.

Likewise, the much-debated ‘points-based’ migration policy could be widely acceptable, so long as illegal migration is dealt with and so long as we manage the number of dependants arriving.

I’d question whether the recent and very obvious editorial shift in the Daily Telegraph’s political coverage is a deliberate move to the Left or an attempt to broaden the appeal of the Right – an attempt to move away from the Magnum Classic.

However, where a seemingly intractable problem still exists is with EU membership: the Tories’ Achilles heel for half a century.

To the surprise of no one, YouGov’s recent polling found that 30% of Tory voters were in favour of rejoining the EU. Somewhat more of a surprise was that 12% of Reform’s voters wanted to rejoin too. When it came to building a ‘closer relationship’ with the EU, the proportion of Tories supporting this doubled to 61%, with 39% of Reform voters also keen.

Worryingly, EU membership may yet become the defining issue of the next election. The Right can’t afford to make rejecting it out of hand an article of faith.

Let’s assume that Andy Burnham resists the siren call to go to the country in the autumn and that the next General Election is in 2029. It seems highly unlikely that he’ll want to run on Labour’s record in office. Far better that Burnham finds a cause that the ‘progressive’ parties can rally around in the hope of forging a ‘progressive alliance’. What better cause than rejoining the EU? Not only is it hugely popular on the Left, it’s also the one issue that may allow progressive parties to reach across the middle ground and into the ranks of Right-of-Centre parties.

Even the moderate Right are becoming highly sceptical of Net Zero and the ECHR, but for too many the EU still seems binary.

Already we’ve seen Hamish Falconer, the Minister for Europe, speculating about “rejoining” being included in the next Labour manifesto.

The Right needs to accommodate those who are EU enthusiasts. It doesn’t seem to me that this is impossible. Right-of-Centre rejoiners recognise that the UK’s negotiating position would be totally undermined if it followed a manifesto pledge or a referendum committing it to rejoin. Rather, the Right should adopt a policy where the EU has to move towards the UK – not the UK moving towards the EU. We’ve demonstrated over the past 10 years that we can manage perfectly well outside the EU. If there is any further rapprochement, compromise must come from the EU’s side.

A policy that doesn’t slam the door on the EU doesn’t make rejoining any more likely, but it is possible that various trade hindrances could be removed or educational co-operation improved.

However, whatever you think of the EU, for the Right to win the next election we can’t afford to drive 30% of Tory voters into the arms of the Lib Dems or Labour. We need to create a safe refuge on our side of the divide for our rejoiner comrades. Their position should be respected and a healthy, polite debate should be encouraged. Again, the EU question should be reclaimed by the Right.

We have to encourage civilised, respectful debate of all these issues between the different factions on the Right. No cancelling, no name-calling – debates where we always play the ball, not the man.

Let Ambrose Evans-Pritchard and Tim Stanley promote Net Zero. Let Gavin Barwell advocate for rejoining the EU. Let Boris Johnson defend his Boriswave. Heavens, I’d even accept everyone having to build a third toilet block if it means the trans debate can be framed as essentially a libertarian issue.

We need to turn the tables on the Left. If radical LGBTQ+ extremists can break bread with Islamists, surely we on the Right can find a way to tolerate Tim Stanley?

Stop Press: Allister Heath makes much the same argument in the Telegraph in a piece entitled: ‘This catastrophic split on the Right risks handing power to terrifying new enemies.’