Five radical ideas for the Tories

The Tories can put some genuinely radical policies into their manifesto without worrying about losing votes, says Matthew Lynn. Here, he picks five good places to start.

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It's hard to see how the Conservatives could lose the general election
(Image credit: © 2017 Bloomberg Finance LP)

With a 20-point lead in the opinion polls, no sign of Remainers flocking to the Lib Dems, and Labour in complete disarray, it's hard to see how the general election can be lost by the Conservatives. That is an opportunity. The Tories can throw caution and political calculation to the wind and put some genuinely radical policies into their manifesto without worrying about losing the odd vote as a result. So they could promise to remove restrictions on fracking. Ditch planning rules to allow more homes to be built. Strip the BBC back to a core public service of news and arts programmes. Here are five other good places to start.

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Matthew Lynn

Matthew Lynn is a columnist for Bloomberg, and writes weekly commentary syndicated in papers such as the Daily Telegraph, Die Welt, the Sydney Morning Herald, the South China Morning Post and the Miami Herald. He is also an associate editor of Spectator Business, and a regular contributor to The Spectator. Before that, he worked for the business section of the Sunday Times for ten years. 

He has written books on finance and financial topics, including Bust: Greece, The Euro and The Sovereign Debt Crisis and The Long Depression: The Slump of 2008 to 2031. Matthew is also the author of the Death Force series of military thrillers and the founder of Lume Books, an independent publisher.