Tories' illiberal leaders
From Mr Michael Stein Sin Frank Johnson's witty comments on the Tory leadership's unprovoked assault on the Monday Club (Shared opinion, 27 October) are by far the most incisive observations to date on some disturbingly illiberal developments within the party.
But the new party line goes far beyond a desire to silence media-unfriendly discussion of race'. The suspension of Conservatives Against a Federal Europe, the unlawful attempts by David Davis to control the use of the title 'Conservative', and the proscription of the magazine Right Now are all redolent of a policy of totalitarianism which has never been attempted by any previous leadership.
If carried to its logical conclusion of suspensions and expulsions, this heavy-handed approach to party management is likely to contravene the European Convention on Human Rights, and Messrs Davis and Duncan Smith should be in no doubt that a growing group of their colleagues are fully prepared to put the law to the test. We are determined that the Conservative party shall remain a forum for the free expression of a wide range of opinion on issues from Europe to current US policy on Afghanistan.
Public opinion turned against the Tories not because they were committed to supposedly unfashionable attitudes, but because they were perceived as sleazy, incompetent and cynical. The breathtaking fact that the attack on the Monday Club was spearheaded by the former secretary of the club's race and repatriation committee, the remarkably unprepossessing John Bercow, will have confirmed their very worst fears.
Michael Stein
Portsmouth. Hampshire
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