Talk is cheap, but we're going to need much more than warm words before young people can trust the Tories.

Bold claims in the Telegraph today – heralding a new progressive dawn for the Tories. The paper reports that:

“The Chancellor believes the free market liberalism introduced by Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s is no longer fit for purpose….

“He will use a major speech to make the case for a new type of capitalism that takes advantage of the digital age, artificial intelligence and robotics to make sure the economy “works for our society”.”

The rationale appears to be that young people overwhelmingly back Labour, yet support ‘innovation’ and ‘entrepreneurship’. It’s the same motive that recently led Tory reformers to found ‘Onward‘, a new think tank designed to win over the youth.

As with all these things, the devil is in the detail. And the detail here is jarring. The changes Mr Hammond proposes:

• “Changes in the way workers…are trained, with the ultimate aim of increasing productivity.”
• Some regulation for new industries.
• Preventing new digital companies becoming new monopolies (presumably this will not extend to existing digital companies like Google and Facebook).

Bold word – and meek solutions. It is one illustration of the the pantomime left/right battle heating up in the Conservative party by the day.

I say pantomime, because for the existence of these ‘voices’ (but not policies) allows the party to maintain a semblance of being in touch with ordinary people. It is a pleasing distraction from the fact that the party is entirely bent on a slash-and-burn Brexit.

And it is a strategy riddled with contradictions. Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson – arguably among the most genuine Tory reformer – is out in force this week, using a speech yesterday to call for increased funding for the NHS. Doing so represented an indirect attack on…guess who? Arch ‘reformer’ Phillip Hammond.

Davidson’s broadside itself illustrates the emptiness in Hammond’s rhetoric when it comes to ‘reform’ – an idea that can mean anything from swingeing welfare cuts to new progressive regulations.

This is a man who has consistently fought against the investment our NHS and public services need – while claiming to reject ‘Thatcherism’. Whose continued austerity policies means spending per person on schools, hospitals, local government and other public services will be down by £960 (-17%) in 2022/23 compared to its level in 2009/10. And who has perpetuated a homelessness crisis and food poverty so severe that the Women’s Institute have been forced to speak up. (Plus the worst cost of living crisis in 50 years, to top it off.)

For young people, the Tories are going to have to do much better than offering the ever-promised ‘improved training’ opportunities, and restrictions to the size of digital companies. We’re going to need genuinely affordable housing, guaranteed working hours, and a halt to the endless attacks on further and higher education.

Increased confidence among the Tory ‘left’ feels more like a fear of irrelevance – and a sign that Labour’s messages are getting through – rather than a surge in moral vigour.

And while the Brexiteers hold the reigns in the Conservative party, warm words from worn-out figures will do little to reassure Britain’s youth. We’ll wait for some real policies first, thanks.

Josiah Mortimer is Editor of Left Foot Forward. Follow him on Twitter.

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