Taking on the Tufton Gang

55 Tufton Street in Westminster, London UK houses nearly a dozen think-tank organisations devoted to resisting climate responsibility and promoting various so-called right-wing agendas [1]. The left-leaning think-tanks dislike them not only because they are opposed to their policies but also because the Tufton organisations are more effective than they are in getting their agendas into the UK parliament [2].

I am not surprised the right wing is more effective, because the left-wing tends to split itself up, each group fighting the others while right-wing organisations often tends to collaborate. Moreover, while left-wingers come at the establishment as enemies attacking, right-wing organisations tend to come at the establishment at friends and helpers. It may be false friendship, but does at least have the semblance of it.

I do not consider myself left-wing, but I am deeply concerned the Tufton Gang, so much so that I believe they need to be countered. The following is a suggestion for how we might do this - by a kind of sideways move.

What I am deeply concerned about is the Tufton Gang's anti-climate-responsibility agenda (often called "climate-skeptic" or "climate-denying"). Their other agendas, of austerity and Brexit, I personally have some sympathy with [3], and they achieved those. Now, some fear, they are turning their attention to moving the UK Government away from climate and environmental responsibility.

So we need to prevent them being successful in that. How do we do so? Left-leaning bodies will not be successful; it needs something else.

It so happens that the Tufton Gang have an Achilles Heel.

In all their talk and pronouncements and policies, virtually nothing comes up about responsibility and generosity. Yet the British people as a whole have an innate sense of responsibility and generosity - as demonstrated during the Pandemic. And the reality of this world, the way God 'designed' Creation to work, is that responsibility and generosity work.

By "responsibility" I refer to responsibility to others, especially those less well off than ourselves, and to the planet and future generations. By "generosity" I refer not to giving to our families and friends, but to others - as Jesus said, "When you give, give to the poor who cannot pay you back."

Responsibility and generosity are attitudes we need towards the planet.

It looks to me that we might be able to undermine all Tufton Gang's work by advocating and publicising the norms of responsibility and generosity. Some might even add, these were the great British traits that made Britain 'great' in the past.

Andrew Basden

Notes

1. See Wikipedia article on 55 Tufton Street.

2. One member of a left-leaning think-tank admitted this on the BBC Radio 4 programme on The Other Black Door, broadcast on 19th September 2022.

3. I say "sympathy with" rather than "outright support for". My sympathy with austerity is because the average ecological footprint of most European countries is around 3 Earths, which needs to be reduced by 67% urgently; how we achieve this without some measure of relative austerity among affluent cultures I cannot imagine. (Some call it the De-growth Agenda.) I have some sympathy for Brexit because I want Britain to no longer be depending on others but taking responsibility for its own decisions. This fits with the theme I develop in this page, responsibility. See Why I Voted Brexit.

Taking on the Tufton Gang

Notes

See also