Kemi Badenoch is denying Tory members and the viewing public in general a head-to-head debate with her opponent, Robert Jenrick.
Her apologists say it is not because she is frit nor afraid of her glaring absence of policies but rather that she does not want to afford viewers the spectacle of a blue-on-blue confrontation. Rot.
There is absolutely no need for such a debate to be unedifying: on the contrary, a sensible, well-mannered and calm debate might save a few shreds of whatever remains of her party’s credibility. Is she really saying she and Jenrick cannot manage that?
I think it far more likely that, believing herself to have the edge, she does not want to put it at risk by facing an opponent who has come up with policies such as making overseas aid dependent on countries accepting back their nationals who have arrived here illegally.
At least that is some sort of idea, so what is Kemi’s? Silence. What is Keir’s? Bluster.
In the short space of time they have been in parliament, Badenoch a mere seven years and Jenrick just ten, both have already held a variety of cabinet positions but given the musical chairs which have masqueraded as government appointments, five prime ministers in less than a decade and a frenzy of backstabbing which would have made Brutus, Cassius and Casca green with envy, that is worth much less than it should be and a succession of posts in a short space of time leaves no room for assessment of effectiveness.
Thus, it largely comes down to who can talk the better game rather than who can do the job with the greater competence and, above all, vision. And if you can silence your opponent by denying him airtime then so much the better.
Whatever the outcome, the Tories will be led from the right, assuming Jenrick’s conversion from centrist to right is genuine. That means Reform UK has won the agenda in the same way that the Tories forced Blair to adopt their policies in 1997.
He recognised that people wanted Tory policies without the Tories. They didn’t want socialism, but they didn’t want a Conservative government which was riven with division.
Now the electorate does not want its children taught there are 72 different genders when they will meet only two, wants the police to concentrate on real crime not thought crime, wants an end to mass illegal immigration, genuine levelling up as opposed to a lot of spouting about it, fairer taxes, an effective health service and reliable defence.
In short it wants common sense and competence and a country that is proud of itself and neither of the two main parties offers that.
LATEST OPINION FROM MEMBERSHIP:
Badenoch and Jenrick each might try to turn the Tory Party in that direction, but the inescapable fact is that there are too many in its ranks who believe otherwise.
For the future to look bright the vision of that future must be held by a united band of determined pilgrims, and it is difficult to see the current Conservatives in that light.
Nobody would join Reform UK if he or she was not attracted by the agenda, but the Tories make a virtue of being a broad church as does the Church of England, and the pews of the former are now emptying almost as fast as the latter’s.
Indeed, the more I look at the current mess the more I wonder why either Kemi Badenoch or Robert Jenrick even wants the job.