Morning Star letter on Tory propaganda

Tory grandee, Michael Heseltine, who recently described his party as the "most sophisticated political party in human democracy", at the same time accused the Brexit branch of becoming "swallowed up in their own propaganda". How ironic, then, that Home Secretary, Theresa May, proved the point that this is something of which the whole Tory party is guilty (Morning Star,06/05/16). No wonder her "so ignorant, so illiberal, so misguided" views on the European Convention of Human Rights received such a pasting. That is the problem of relying so much for popular support on a well-oiled propaganda machine to sway the voters` views: the policies get repeated so often, no change is possible without it becoming a major U-turn, or an embarrassing defeat.

  There are many current examples, ranging from the supposed need to academise all schools by 2022, and to impose a new contract on junior doctors to achieve a "seven day NHS", to the shrinking of the state back to 1930s` levels. All have been proved by experts to be misguided, but they are still being propounded by Tories as solutions, often to non-existent problems.

      Under the Tories` watch, taxes on the rich have been reduced, the pay gap between CEOs and their workers has reached obscene levels, whilst the economy has stalled, and food banks multiplied. The left, as Liz Davies says, is correct to argue "for the inclusion of economic rights" in the Human Rights Act.