Get broke.

Many voters who helped Boris Johnson to huge electoral success in 2019 wanted change. Red Wall voters hoped for a government that might better reflect their hopes and interests. But time and again they have been left disappointed. One of the prime minister’s most notable failures has been his inability to put up a fight in the culture wars. Under his leadership, the Conservative government has done little to stem the tide of woke policies and practices.

We have had some bluster, of course. Talking heads deliver anti-woke soundbites on demand. Cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg is permanently up for a fight against ‘wokery’ in the civil service, most recently declaring war on ‘absurd’ staff-training courses, including one called ‘Check yo’ privilege’. Culture secretary Nadine Dorries can be relied on to put the boot into the ‘left-wing snowflakes’ who are ‘killing comedy, tearing down historic statues’ and ‘removing books from universities’. Former party chair Oliver Dowden crossed the Atlantic to tell us that the new Maoism promoted by ‘woke warriors’ was ‘pernicious’. And Kemi Badenoch, who resigned today from her equalities post, has pushed back against both critical race theory and gender ideology.

But despite these verbal grenades, over the course of the past two-and-a-half years the tide of woke policies has continued to swell. Schools have gone further than before in promoting gender ideology among even the youngest pupils. Many primary schools permit children to change their names and pronouns while at school, regardless of whether parents give their consent. Some go so far as to accommodate young girls who bind their breasts, despite acknowledging the detrimental physical impact this practice has on young children. And it was the Conservative Party that introduced legislation preventing parents from withdrawing children from mandatory relationships classes.

A reminder to Canadian conservative politicians: no matter how much you fear the barbs of the fake woke media, you should fear us more.