Tory Victory Sets Stage for Reform and Brexit

The Houston Courant ^ | December 17th, 2019 | D. Phaup

[The Houston Courant]

By way of the mid-December election, the people of the United Kingdom gave the Conservative Party a parliamentary majority in the House of Commons. The margin of victory totaled seventy-eight seats which secured Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s position as head of government, potentially for the next five years. Traditionally working-class areas, such as Durham, switched party preferences to Tory en masse, resulting in the worst Labor Party defeat since the 1930s. Johnson hailed the achievement as a mandate from the people to carry out the Conservative agenda. In a post-election speech, he reaffirmed his commitment to ‘get Brexit done’, to address the National Health Service, and fix immigration. The Tories should celebrate their victory, but be reminded that continued support largely depends on following through on commitments.

Delivering Brexit

The UK’s severance from the European Union is long overdue. The original referendum took place June 23rd, 2016, and asked a simple question, “should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union.” A majority, 51.89% of the electorate or 17.41 million people won and demanded the UK to leave. What followed was continuous parliamentary theater where members sought to delay the implementation of Brexit, alter what leave means, and even force a new referendum. Former Prime Minister Theresa May negotiated a European Union light treaty that was trapped in parliamentary gridlock and fiercely opposed by both leave and remain camps. Its rejection ultimately cost her the job of Prime Minister.

Now, the Conservatives have the ability to give the people what they voted for, a clean break from the European Union. Johnson must use the electoral mandate and parliamentary majority to negotiate a full withdrawal from the union and fall back under World Trade Organization rules. Doing so would permit the government to negotiate bilateral trade with partners across the world, providing both flexibility, and insulation from European interests seeking to undermine UK sovereignty.

The National Health Service

The NHS is a slow moving and expensive behemoth. England’s NHS alone has a budget of approximately 115 billion pounds for 2018/2019. Getting reform for it means fighting politically charged battles and dodging outlandish Labor Party accusations such as “Donald Trump wants to purchase the NHS”. The Conservatives must ignore the media circus and take action. They must privatize where it makes sense, reign in spending, and address the worker shortage.

According to one study, the NHS suffers from a chronic shortage of healthcare professionals. There are an estimated 100,000 vacancies in the system across all trades. Expanding work permits to fill gaps in labor is a tourniquet not a fix. Educational reforms must be had for the trained and continued supply of qualified professionals. Some solutions are already proposed such as discounting college tuition costs for critical skills and expanding residency programs for physicians. These could be implemented locally and would begin reducing the need for foreign labor within two years. The sooner the Tories get to work on these reforms the more prepared the NHS will be for the aging baby boomer population.

A Tory Migration Policy

The United Kingdom has a migration problem. Year over year chain-migration, or family migration, has increased the population of cities to the breaking point, and dramatically shifted demographics. The Conservatives seek to resolve the crisis by implementing an Australia-style migration system that protects the domestic working and poor classes who are hit the hardest by uncontrolled entry of labor. The proposed system will ensure temporary work visas are available for critically needed trades, such as NHS professionals, and allow the education system time to develop and implement programs to meet the needs of a modern economy. Implementing migration reform is the highest priority after Brexit.

Focus Boris!

Prime Minister Johnson and the Conservative Party have the ability to keep their government for five years. They must not squander the opportunity on unimportant and highly divisive issues like Anti-BDS bills, abortion, gay marriage, etc. that drain political capital and encroach on personal liberty. The Tories must focus on the core issues of the working class and poor; migration, jobs, maintaining a peaceful foreign policy, and Brexit while not increasing taxes. Should the government actually deliver on what it has promised, something that the Conservatives have failed to do time and time again, they will be rewarded by their new working-class voter base. In the months going forward, the people’s faith in government will be subject to the Prime Minister’s initiative and keeping his word.