James Delingpole

So it’s just as we thought: the Conservatives are a bunch of timid, Blairite statists who aren’t going to drag us out of Europe and are going to spend the next 5 years treading water.

But just imagine, for a moment, a Tory party conference in an alternative universe in which they’d made some of the following commitments:

• Massive tax cuts to boost economic growth.
• Sweeping health care reform – cutting back on bureaucracy, encouraging private health care, improving value in the system.
• A coalition with the Libertarian party committing the government to free markets, individual freedom and a minimal welfare state.
• A keynote speech from the party leader saying: “There’s a limit to what governments can do.”

Well if you lived in New Zealand you wouldn’t need to imagine because they’ve got it already in the form of John Key and his centre-right National party. (Hat Tip: Tom Blanton)

Seriously, if you were jealous enough of the Kiwis already – what with their Lord Of The Rings scenery, their kakapo parrots, and their Cloudy Bay sauvignon blanc – then I really don’t recommend you read this article on John  Key in the National Review Online by Lydia Bevege. It will make you want to up sticks and emigrate IMMEDIATELY.

Here’s a taste:

Delivering his first budget in May, Key continued to distinguish his economic policies from those being adopted in Washington, London, and Canberra. He imposed a cap on government spending set at half the average spending level over the past five years, reining in government growth to 2 percent per year. Key’s “line-by-line” review of federal spending identified and cut back $2 billion worth of non-essential programs. His conservative budget pushed the New Zealand dollar higher and prompted the ratings agency Standard & Poor to increase New Zealand’s foreign-currency rating from negative to stable.

Who do we want? John Key. When do we want him? Now!