In a Guardian interview yesterday, Eddie Izzard Explains Why He’s For Labour:

I just believe in the goodwill of people, the power of people to do something positive. And that’s why I’m in the Labour party. The Labour party believes in fairness, and the Conservative party is more about getting the country working well and rewarding high-flyers, and … there’s this trickle-down theory. Why do we have to have a trickle-down theory? Why does it trickle? Why can’t it be a flow-down theory? Why can’t it gush down? Trickle implies that someone’s got bazillions, and someone else might get pennies.

I think Eddie Izzard is fantastic, and once again he shines in this interview (I just wish I’d known he had a tour on before all the tickets had sold out…) but what I found interesting in this quote is that he’s exactly right while using the language that a supporter of either party would agree with. Labour are about the ‘fairness’ of a utopian society, the Conservatives are about making the world work in a practical sense so that everyone benefits. The choice between the two strikes to the heart of a person’s character – do you believe in idealism and the hope of something which might hopefully arrive in the future, or do you believe in pragmatism and improving the world by making the best of what we have.

If you’re a natural Labour supporter, you believe the Conservative viewpoint explained above is heartless and without optimism. If you’re a Conservative supporter, you believe the Labour viewpoint above isn’t grounded in reality and will lead to more harm than good. If you’re for the Liberal Democrats, of course, you agree with both. Or neither. Or something.1

The idealism of conservatives (or at least of my breed of ‘common-sense conservatism’) is the belief that continuing down the path of pragmatism for long enough will lead to us all benefiting – the hope that pragmatism is fairness, it’s just delayed fairness. Whilst any poverty now is a terrible curse, aspiration will eventually bring us all out of poverty for good. Whilst far-Eastern sweatshops are undeniably Bad, the recent economic successes of countries like Taiwan show that they are the first steps towards something Good in developing countries.

Both the Left and the Right make promises of a better future for everybody. Both are constantly frustrated by the opposing force of the other. The decision is about which promises you’d prefer to believe, and whether you’re willing to sacrifice a little ‘heart’ to take the slower, harder, but less trodden path.

And that’s why I align behind the Conservatives.

Lib Dem Voice. Yes, I know.

  1. Sorry. I couldn’t resist. [↩]