I'm not the original poster on this, but here's my 2p worth:
American conservatism is a bout upholding a republic and its written constitution; British conservatism is about upholding the monarchy and the unwritten constitution
British conservatism is often more authoritarian than its more libertarian US counterpart eg:
UK conservatives:
Removed the right to silence in the 1980s, banned most handguns in 1996 (Blair did the rest in 1997), now support national ID cards (current Labour govt policy).
Not commenting on the rights and wrongs, but I suspect many of these would be a non-starter for American conservatives.
Thank you. That's exactly the way I read it too.
Our definitions of conservatism must be different because our systems of government are different.
One of you remarked on the fact that the British government is much older than is the U.S. That is something that I appreciate. I have Scotch ancestors and I am trying to trace my lineage back several centuries. Britain is an ancient land and one that I am quite fond of. I've been over there 4x.
I was unaware that you folks had accepted the idea of a national ID card. I don't see that as a good thing at all (over there or over here).
Also, aren't your tax rates still confiscatory? Hell, I think ours sure are and i know they pale in comparison to yours.
Re: 2nd Amendment. I know your government outlawed guns after Dunblaine, but I think that is unwise. I have observed that human nature tends to become totalitarian (telling other people what to do), just in the same way that groups of humans tend to bureaucratize even when there is no need.
I read once that London has something like a million or 1 1/2 million surveillance cameras. The pull quote from the article was from a monitor of those cameras that said, "you've nothing to fear if you've done nothing wrong."
I found that troubling, especially as my country is headed down the same path, apparently.
Best,
'Pod.