The Social Conservatism of the Tories

Interesting comparison here on how the representatives of the main parties have voted on LGBT issues. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Labour and the Lib Dems have been far more open to LGBT issues than the Tories. By a jarringly high margin.

This is the big problem I have with the Tories, and with those who state that the Tories are the naturally Libertarian party in this country. Put very simply, they are not. Sure, they may be more economically liberal that the Labour party, but when it comes down to social issues, history shows them to be deeply conservative. Ultimately, they want to preserve freedom... for the sort of people and families they judge to be "normal". The middle-class families with 2.4 children based in Middle England; those are the ones that the Tories - in practice - fight to conserve the freedom of. And for all of Cameron's rhetoric about them becoming the progressive party, I have yet to see any real or meaningful evidence that they have changed from this innate - and nauseating - predilection for social conservatism.

And this is why any real Libertarian should struggle with the idea of voting Tory. They are just as suspicious of freedom as the Labour party. It is just that the Labour party prefer to restrict your economic freedom, while the Tories want you to be just as socially conservative as the blue rinse brigade who have been their core support for so many years.

Labour or Tory? For a Libertarian, the very definition of Morton's Fork.