The need for change is tangible. It is bubbling up in every region, every county, every town and every community. I hear it every day here in north Dorset. There is a deep-seated tiredness, a distaste for the same old, same old bleat and spin:
“Brexit is great.” No, it isn’t. It isn’t anything like what was promised. “We have taken back control.” No, you haven’t. “The trade deals are great.” No, they are not. They are selling farmers in the Vale down the river. There is no clear future model for improving our self-sufficiency in food.

“Social Care has been fixed.” No it hasn’t, not by miles, not by years, not by billions. “The NHS is in safe hands.” No it isn’t. US money lurks in the wings. Just as with eyes and teeth, other parts will be carved away and run with the skew that profit motives give to decision-making.
“The problems in the railways, Royal Mail, the ambulances, the Border Force, the driving test examiners are nothing to do with us, guv.” Yes, they are, Gov. They reflect a them-and-us attitude and managerial culture flowing from the top which perpetuates out of date, confrontational practices on all sides, left and right. In the case of the railways, the word ‘sustainable’ applied to the current model is risible. When air travel between our major cities is less costly than rail, our Victorian legacy can be seen to be evaporating before our very eyes. Such a good plan to split it all up into umpty-um little fiefdoms, eh? What nonsense.

“We are on top of illegal immigration.” No, no one is nor will be until our world recognises the flow of migrants is caused by the horrors of war, famine and economic hardship. All the migrants are doing is getting on their bikes. Tories used to applaud that. The idea that you can stop migration through deterrence is ridiculous. The solutions lie in investment in more fairness, less economic exploitation, less idiot nationalism and less religious fervour.
“We are as green as can be.” Not by a long chalk. You don’t walk the walk and now you don’t even talk the talk. ‘Sorry’ doesn’t quite cut it for the Maldives and many Pacific Ocean island states. I wonder if we will be as complacent when it comes to swathes of East Anglia and much of London’s finest real estate. The pictures of the raised Thames Barrier this month were impactful and insightful.
The Tories have this air of always being in charge, of being the ruling class. Change is coming, though. It is coming from the thought-leaders, people with the smarts and hard heads to provide solutions, shape opportunities and the big hearts to deliver fairness. Stand by.