There are very good reasons why Black voters don’t support the Tories

Diana Young’s encouragement to Black voters to choose the Conservative Party may be well-intentioned, but it unintentionally casts Black voters as blindly following the Labour Party. The “Black people should drop their historical affinity for Labour” part of the critique is a misreading of Black communal political agency. It leaves out historical and contemporary political factors that cause most Black people to choose between two imperfect options.

The Labour Party is far from perfect. There have been many cases where its plan has not served the Black people voting for them, but at least we can see politicians fighting for a living wage, increased funding for education, better hospitals, unions and supporting non-white communities.

It doesn’t absolve the Labour Party of how it has let Black voters down, but the fact that Black people are a loyal demographic reflects their ability to assess their political situation and where their interests best align. It doesn’t mean they are sheep, and it is untrue that the two parties are indistinguishable.

Let’s remind ourselves of some of the Tory party’s policies in recent years. The party unveiled the hostile environment, dehumanising immigrants, splitting up families, and discriminating against non-white people. Under Theresa May, the government dispatched the "go home” vans and deported black Britons in the Windrush scandal. And we can’t forget Boris Johnson, who seems to systematically go down the list of the UK’s ethnic and social groups and offend each of them. Johnson’s Black supporters know about his scorn of immigrants, disregarding basic civility that binds society.

There is a frantic attempt by the Tory party to convince us that they are not racist by employing Conservative Black people. But, in essence, these high-profile Black people provide cover for and espouse primarily offensive commentary that mainstream Conservatives do not dare utter in public. In other words, they tell mainstream Conservatives what they want to hear instead of what they need to hear.

Priti Patel and Kemi Badenoch have been at the forefront of attacks, not just on critical race theory but on Black Lives Matter. Patel and Badenoch use their heritage and identity to bolster their arguments about a post-racial Britain. They claim that a victim mindset holds ethnic minorities back, not institutional racism or structural barriers.

It is not to say all non-white Conservatives demonise other people of colour. Baroness Warsi, the first Muslim woman to serve in the cabinet, and Nus Ghani, MP for Wealden, are examples of people who had no problem calling out what they saw as the shortcomings of the Conservatives regarding its disconnect with large segments of the Black electorate.

The point is not to absolve Black people of personal responsibility. But when Black Conservatives focus on Black people’s behaviour and accountability in such a way, they ignore the cultural realities of the group. They play a deceptive and dangerous intellectual game with the lives and fortunes of disadvantaged people. We indeed must criticise and condemn immoral acts by Black people, but we must do so aware of the circumstances into which people are born and under which they live. By overlooking this, the Black Conservatives fall into the trap of blaming poor Black people for their predicament.

These Black Conservatives thrive on the failures of those unlike them. They measure their wealth by the desperation of other Black people. The implication that Black people who vote for the Labour Party can’t be discerning is an insult – it suggests that they can’t weigh the pros and cons of political parties and make informed decisions.

Nat Nmeterson

Address supplied

I have heard too much lately about the “Churchillian” character of Boris Johnson in relation to Ukraine. It is true that both Churchill and Johnson have many shared aspects to their colourful careers, both littered with reckless failures and errors of judgement.

For Churchill, Gallipoli, Ireland and India figure prominently on the negative side before eventually achieving his finest hour in his leadership during the Second World War. For Johnson, Brexit, numerous sackings and a disastrous period as prime minister will be his legacy, and no finest hour is likely.

Johnson undoubtedly has the talent to motivate a crowd but there’s nothing remotely Churchillian in simply being the loudest voice in the pub brawl shouting: “Go on, Volodymyr. Sort him out. I’ll hold your coat!”

John Dillon

Birmingham

Salma Shah writes that “Conservative Party members deserve respect, not derision”.

I agree with her entirely that Conservative members are a broad church, that they have a wide range of views and that many are highly principled. However, recent polls show that 55 per cent of the membership feel that Tory MPs were wrong to force the resignation of one of the worst prime ministers in our country’s history.

Two-thirds of them favour a candidate whose economic policies are widely considered as divorced from reality, do very little to address the problems facing the poorer members of our society and risk substantial damage to our public services.

I struggle to find a positive term to describe this collective position.

Paul Rex

South Warnborough

Interesting article by Salma Shah, essentially attempting to address an image problem among Conservative Party members.

Doing my best not to take up the whole paper, I feel it is wise to concentrate on one topic that sums up the selfishness of the vast majority of the circa 180,000 we are discussing: Brexit.

As we are only too aware, the bulk of that number is over 50 and therefore they enjoyed the benefits of European membership for most of their adult lives. Again, it is undeniable that they overwhelmingly supported leaving the EU which has removed the rights, freedoms and opportunities of the younger generation. Even people that do not follow politics closely have grasped this indubitable fact.

If the party stalwarts are vexed by how others perceive them, I must recommend that they change themselves rather than blaming others – worrying prevalent nowadays – such as the media.

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I look forward to a radical change of attitude shortly, but I shall not be holding my breath.

Robert Boston

Kingshill

It has been like getting blood out of a stone trying to get additional financial support from the government for those worst affected by the catastrophic rise in fuel prices.

Yet there we have our caretaker PM, supposedly unable to make big decisions apart from where to go next on holiday, committing billions to Ukraine.

I have no problem with that decision, but I totally deplore the government’s unwillingness to act to help people in this frightening cost of living crisis.

John E Harrison

Lancashire