Belated sense form Cameron

In a refreshingly honest admission, UK Tory leader David Cameron has stated that he supports parents who pretend to be Christians so as to get their children into faith-based schools, arguing such parents are only doing what they think is best for their children.

"I don't blame anyone who tries to get their children into a good school," he said.

Recently, the Conservative leader has attracted criticism from his fellow Conservatives for opposing the building of more grammar schools.

In New Zealand faith-based schools are also becoming more popular, with increasing numbers of non-religious parents perceiving Catholic schools as better at upholding traditional values and academic standards.

On Radio Live, talkshow host Michael Laws, who worked as a education policy advisor from 1985-91, pointed out that in the 1960s and 1970s, many of the country's Catholic schools were in serious financial difficulty, with the government having to step in and fund teachers salaries and learning materials.

Admittedly, the better performance of religious schools may be partly due to their ability to cherry-pick students from public schools, but it's also likely the decline in public sector education can at least partly be attributed to such factors as political correctness and declining standards of discipline.

Some thoughts on the BNP

Perusing the Internet from a conservative perspective, it's clear there aren't many British conservative blogs and websites devoted to issues like immigration and the preservation of western culture, but there are an increasingly number of bloggers who are supporting the British National Party.

This support for the BNP can also be seen in the comments left on centre-right newspapers websites like the Daily Mail and the Telegraph, and the party's strong showing in local elections in many parts of England.

The lack of a "conservative scene" in Britain seems a bit puzzling, given that since the Second World War, ethno-nationalism has been struggling to shake off its associations with Hitler and Mussolini, and has therefore been seen by most Britons as unpatriotic and extremist.

Nethertheless, few Britons appear aware or interested in the kind of populist traditionalism, which is gaining increasing support in the United States.

Nor is the Conservative Party, despite its poor showing in recent elections, very interested in tapping into traditional conservative sentiment regarding issues like Islamic immigration or membership of the European Union. Instead it has decided to become even less conservative by electing it's most liberal leader ever in David Cameron.

This leaves an increasing number of British conservatives with little option but to get behind the BNP and try to mould in into a more conservative party.

While the BNP has made major strides to shake off its fascist origins by denouncing anti-Semiticism and political violence, it still clings to many unworkable ethno-nationalist policies and its antiquated economic platform just isn't going to resonate with many educated middle class voters.

One of the parties biggest stumbling blocks is its racialist policy regarding party membership. Given that races have fuzzy boundaries, and that Britain has a significant number of mixed-race citizens, such a policy can only alienate many potential supporters and provide ammunition for its numerous critics in the media.

Equally unrealistic is its advocacy of corporal punishment, which has not been used in most western countries for over a century, and would probably be strongly opposed by the legal profession. In the economic field the party needs to work out a coherent set of moderate, pragmatic policies, which will be acceptable to both its working class support base and potential middle class voters who support orthodox economic principles like balanced budgets and low inflation.

Although opposition to EU is an important part of the BNP's raison d'etre, the party shouldn't be afraid to follow economic ideas from Continental countries like Denmark and the Netherlands or the Europhile Liberal Democrats. For example, Britain's struggling rail system could arguably be improved by allowing private companies to run the stations and rolling stock while nationalising the neglected network of tracks and tunnels. Making a firm commitment to nuclear power, as France and Finland have done, would also help sent a message that the party was serious about the country's long-term development.

In education, the BNP could take the initiative by introducing IQ testing to help identify working class kids with academic potential and those who are under-performing due to learning disorders. Given that Britain is one of the few western countries where class hang-ups still have a negative affect on academic standards, such a policy could give it a useful edge over its more egalitarian rivals.

Even if the Nu Consevatives manage to scrap through in the next election, the BNP still has an opportunity to draw substantial support from the growing ranks of disaffected voters with conservative or traditional commutarian views.