There’s nothing conservative about the Tory party these days

It would remarkable if The Conservative and Unionist Party with their handling of the NHS, academies, the economy, Scotland and Europe lose all rights to their name

By its very definition, a conservative government should look at amending structures and services to deliver a better outcome (Getty Images)

For a party that trades on preserving the status quo there’s something decidedly unconservative about the Conservatives.

By its very definition, a conservative government should look at amending structures and services to deliver a better outcome. Instead they’ve jumped in head first into a series of bungles of their own making.

A seven day NHS may be a laudable idea, but it requires extra funding. Trying to stretch existing money, at a time when the NHS in England has just suffered its worst ever performance for the second successive month, was never going to work.

So instead of a conservative approach to change they’ve ripped up junior doctors contracts and the result is that doctors will be striking once more.

They’ve done the same with education. Wanting to improve school performance is a fine aim but the way they have gone about it is madness as there is no proof that academies will deliver necessary improvements. Instead of making schools more accountable it has led to the ridiculous situation in Knowsley where the borough’s only sixth form is looking to close and the local authority is powerless because it is an academy.

And how’s the great Conservative “safe pair of hands” on the economy?

Unemployment has started to rise. The pound is slumping against the dollar on the back of foreign markets becoming nervous over the possibility of the United Kingdom leaving the EU. It is not very conservative allowing all this turmoil and uncertainty in the economy.

There is now a very good case for removing the word “Conservative” from the party of government’s name.

Which brings us onto the second half of their name. Unionist. In 2014 David Cameron said it would "break my heart if Scotland leaves the UK" and less than two years since the Scottish independence referendum was secured for the Unionist side by a majority of only 10 per cent, the matter seemed to be put to bed for a generation.

Yet it seems there is an anti-EU faction in the Conservative party for which their distrust of Europe overrules their commitment to the Union. The SNP manifesto downplays the idea of another referendum with one major exception: “Scotland being taken out of the EU against our will.” As William Hague, former Conservative party leader and cabinet member has put it: “To end up destroying the United Kingdom and gravely weakening the European Union would not be a very clever day’s work.”

In a matter of weeks we will know if David Cameron’s latest gamble has paid off. Either way, he will hold the record as the prime minister who has come closest in modern times to overseeing the breakup of the United Kingdom, not once, but twice which is some achievement for a “unionist”.

It would quite remarkable if, in the space of a few short weeks, The Conservative and Unionist Party with their handling of the NHS, Academies, the economy and Europe lose all rights to their name.