Welcome to conservativehome.com
Everything you read on this site - in the first few weeks after its March 2005 launch - is the work of a very few people. We want you to change that. This site will succeed if many conservatives take ownership of it:
- We need your ideas for new definitions and better ways of expressing existing definitions...
- Use The Blog to bring attention to stories in your local community or to latest examples of BBC bias...
- Tell us about the websites and stories that should be featured in the 'picks of the day'...
WE ENVISAGE CONSERVATIVEHOME.COM BECOMING THE MOST PERSUASIVE AND COMPREHENSIVE ADVERTISEMENT FOR AUTHENTIC CONSERVATISM.
CAN YOU HELP MAKE THIS VISION A REALITY?
The 'Home' - a bookmark website for every conservative
You are invited to make the conservativehome.com website your homepage. Everyday it will provide the best news, briefings and discussion opportunities for British and other interested conservatives.
(American conservatives are particularly welcome but those with an affection for Tony Blair are invited to read this).
The 'Home' - a defining conservative idea
But choosing the title of 'home' for this site also reflects the philosophical power of the idea of 'the home'. For conservatives the home represents foundational values:
- Homes are a symbol of ownership and the goal of many breadwinners' efforts;
- Homes are the centre of family life and provide independence from big government;
- And one nation conservatives believe that social justice demands that every Briton can live in a warm, safe home.
Features of this website
OBJECTIVE: Some of the site’s features are written as impartially as possible. The picks of the day, for example, provide links to everyday's most important stories on the net. Our pick of the columnists page takes you directly to the best conservative writing in the English-speaking world.
OPINIONATED: Other parts of this website have a case to make. The opinionated column features the views of people who occupy every part of the conservative spectrum (from caveman to neoconservative). Any unsigned parts of the site represent the ‘house view’ – a view that is encapsulated in the ‘and theory of conservatism’. The three minute memos are designed to provide you with a fast guide to the top issues of the week and the multi-level briefings (like this one on prosperity) are written to introduce conservative thinking to students and other knowledge-seekers. The conservative dictionary knits the whole website together. Embedded on most of the site's pages are hyperlinks to take visitors to definitions of key conservative ideas.
INTERACTIVE: The Blog provides the simplest opportunity for visitors to participate in the site but (because of our belief in mass intelligence) invitations to 'comment on this page' are posted on every page. If you have a suggestion for a newslink or future memo please despatch an email to [email protected].
INDEPENDENT: conservativehome.com is very sympathetic to the Conservative Party but is independent of it. Part of this website's mission is to popularly establish that the Tory Party does not own the conservative philosophy. Conservativehome.com has a vision of conservatism that is both deeper and broader than that offered by today’s Tories.
BROADER: This site believes strongly in core conservative beliefs - lower taxation, proper punishment of criminals and Euro-scepticism... but the conservative agenda should be much broader. Conservativehome.com will promote a conservatism that is as committed to a war on poverty as to the war on terror. As concerned at the impact on Britain’s heritage of the destruction of our green and pleasant countryside as the loss of parliamentary powers to Brussels. As opposed to trading arms with despotic regimes as it is supportive of free trade.
DEEPER: A broader agenda helps conservatism to be truer to its core beliefs. A conservatism that is genuinely committed to feeding the hungry of Africa has greater moral authority to pursue a stricter immigration policy. A conservatism that is finding new solutions to the deepest forms of social need will be more trusted to deliver tax relief.
So expect both red meat and surprises on this site. We’ll be unapologetic about our Euro-scepticism, our belief in pre-empting future threats to national security and our opposition to cloning. But you’ll also find us interested in prison reform, much stricter control of the arms trade and green taxation of airlines.
A conservatism that is as broad as it is deep
A diverse band of soldiers have always rallied to conservative colours.
Some are motivated by the creation of wealth; some by the threat of crime; some by their love of the environment.
Few will agree with every opinion expressed on this website but it is hoped that the conversations generated on conservativehome.com will demonstrate the progressive potential of Britain's 'forces of conservatism'.