Bagehot | Right but wrong-headed

摘要

TO MISQUOTE P.G. Wodehouse, it is never difficult to distinguish between a right-wing British politician with a grievance and a ray of sunshine. Yet even by its own grumpy standards, the right of the Conservative Party sounded disgruntled this week after the first big reshuffle of David Cameron's government. Examined dispassionately, Conservative gloom feels exaggerated. True, the reshuffle was triggered by the resignation as defence secretary of Liam Fox, a fierce partisan and patriot who was something of a darling among Thatcherite mps. But Philip Hammond, Dr Fox's replacement, is hardly a Kumbaya-humming Eu-rophile. A dry-as-dust businessman, he is perhaps "95% as right-wing as Liam Fox", admits one Thatcherite.