What is the point of a Conservative Party that doesn’t conserve anything? I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve had this thought about the Tories. The latest instance comes courtesy of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who said this week that not only would he ensure a parliamentary free vote on assisted suicide, he might even support it.
“I’m not against it in principle,” Sunak said. “It’s just a question of having the safeguards in place and that’s where people have had questions in the past.”
Meanwhile, while we’re talking about dying, a Telegraph poll predicts that Sunak will become the first sitting prime minister in history to lose his seat in a general election:
The polling suggests Tory warnings of a Labour “super-majority” are accurate. It also lays bare the scale of voter disillusionment with the Conservatives, and suggests an uncertain road for the party in the years ahead.
That disillusionment doubtless owes to a party without principles or direction.