Some of my best friends are Tories. OK, there aren’t as many as there used to be, since no one likes to back a loser. But there are still a few, and I rather cherish them.
I often think about this whenever I’m in the hyperpartisan, Balkanised world of social media full as it is of people calling Tories scum (and worse) and collecting a bountiful harvest of retweets and likes on the back of it.
I’m not about to vote Conservative myself (I’m a wishy-washy centrist who liked Tony Blair’s early work and has since mostly voted Labour, with an occasional swing to the Liberal Democrats and Greens) but I reckon a having a few friends on the right is good news. For starters, I would much rather have a political discussion with a Tory than with my own tribe, with whom I’m either going to agree or argue furiously over small differences. But when I hang out with my west London Tory friend, I know the political banter will always be spicy. I’ll be provoked, challenged and robustly rebutted. Like all good opponents, she improves my game.
Even better, you sometimes discover surprising points of agreement. One Conservative pal is vehemently against London’s ultra-low emission zone (which, as a cyclist, I’m very much in favour of) but, like me, thinks Brexit was a terrible idea. It’s not a grand coming together, but it’s a start. Socialising with the right also disabuses you of fashionable “bubble” notions. Chat to actual Tories and the oft-repeated refrain that Keir Starmer is a Tory starts to feel ridiculous.
You can learn from them, too, even in the party’s current parlous state. Tories rarely believe they have a monopoly on virtue (there’s a reason “Labour scum” is not commonplace) and I’ve always admired their ability to flex ideologically, coalesce behind a leader and focus on winning (although Boris Johnson has demonstrated the practical limits of this).
But the main point is, that in an ever-more polarised world, friendships with people who don’t think like you are great. It’s very easy to “other” people when you never meet them, but far harder when you’re having a pint with them.
Finally, if you are going to be machiavellian about it, there has never been a better time to win over wavering Tories. It hardly needs saying that converting a Tory in a swingable “blue wall” constituency is electorally far more valuable than preaching to the choir in a Labour stronghold.
Source : The Guardian
