The latest Conservative chest-thumping over withdrawing from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is a dismal spectacle. It’s as if they assume we’ve forgotten who they are, or worse, who they were during their time in power. For nearly all my life, I’ve lived under a Conservative government—fourteen long years of their empty promises and smirking betrayals. Now, they have the audacity to present themselves as defenders of British freedoms, railing against the very system they propped up for over a decade. It’s pure theatre, and I’ve no intention of buying a ticket.

Fourteen Years of Spineless Drift

The Conservatives had fourteen years to deal with the ECHR. Fourteen years to repeal, reform, or restrain its application. Did they do it? No. Between 2010 and 2015, they may point to their coalition with the Liberal Democrats as an excuse for inaction, but excuses crumble when you consider they held an outright majority after 2015. What did they do with it? They sat on their hands.

Time and again, they leaned on the very human rights laws they now demonise, using them to defend bad policies or justify power grabs. They had every opportunity to make real changes, to legislate Britain out of the ECHR’s jurisdiction, to stand up for national sovereignty. Instead, they embraced inaction—whether out of cowardice, laziness, or a lack of genuine conviction, it hardly matters now. Their newfound opposition is laughable. Who believes them anymore?

Hypocrisy as Governance

This is a party that could write the book on hypocrisy—though I doubt they’d finish even that. They’ve long talked a good game on immigration, sovereignty, and liberty, yet every promise has unravelled into failure. On immigration, they assured us of controls; instead, the borders remained porous. On free speech, they spoke of protections; instead, they introduced laws that chipped away at our right to dissent. And on national sovereignty? The ECHR looms as large as it did when they first took office.

Now, with Labour in power, the Conservatives want us to think they’ve changed, that they’re the guardians of liberty. Spare me. I lived through their rule, and it was marked not by freedom but by stagnation, a suffocating mediocrity that crushed hope and allowed inequality to fester. They made themselves the status quo, and their failures handed the keys to a Labour government with ambitions far more authoritarian than anything we’ve yet endured.

The Labour Threat: A Consequence of Conservative Failure

If Labour now pursues an openly authoritarian agenda—greater state control, further restrictions on free speech, more intrusion into private life—it’s because the Conservatives paved the way. They squandered trust, alienated their base, and left voters desperate enough to take a punt on Labour. The irony is bleak: after years of failing to defend liberty, the Tories are now positioning themselves as its last line of defence. They must think we’ve forgotten their surveillance laws, their clampdowns on protest, their spinelessness in the face of cultural conformity. Their actions dismantled liberty; they don’t get to claim the moral high ground now.

The ECHR: Flawed, But Necessary

The ECHR isn’t perfect. It’s far too lenient in some cases, particularly when the rights of criminals or illegal immigrants seem to overshadow the rights of law-abiding citizens. But it exists to curb the excesses of government power. In a system where both major parties seem intent on eroding liberty, checks on the state are not just useful—they’re vital.

The Conservatives’ hostility to the ECHR isn’t about liberty; it’s about distraction. They’ve had their chance to fix what they now call a problem. They didn’t. Why? Because it suited them not to. And now, after wasting fourteen years, they want us to trust them again. They’re either deluded or cynical enough to think we are.

A Legacy of Betrayal

Nearly my entire life has been lived under governments of posturing traitors—politicians who talk about freedom but legislate away our rights, who rail against problems they created or failed to address. The Conservatives had the time and the power to do something about the ECHR, about immigration, about sovereignty. They didn’t. Their legacy is a broken political system, a disillusioned electorate, and a Labour government emboldened to do worse.

So, no, I won’t believe a word of what they’re saying now. Their legacy speaks far louder than their promises. They’re posturing again, but I’ve seen it all before.

Related posts:

What is Happening in Britain? Daniel Hannan’s Hollow Plea: Propping Up a Party Deserving of Oblivion Labour’s Grovelling to Donald Trump: A Sight of Parasites at Work Time to take back our civilization from the parasites and pests, Part Four: Diagnosis Extremism and Censorship: The British State’s War on its Own People Hate Crime Laws: A Tool for Political Suppression Deutsche Welle’s Fear of Free Speech: A State Broadcaster’s Panic Over Tommy Robinson

Powered by YARPP.