Nisbet’s ‘feudal code of charity’ gives you an idea about stability. Disraeli said ‘the palace is not safe when the cottage is not happy’ meaning that the rich are not happy when the poor are not satisfied. If the poor is not satisfied then there will not be social stability as wars and riots will breakout. Disraeli’s crystal palace speech was full of social reforms e.g. housing reform, giving the vote to the urban working-class male. Disraeli hated capitalism and so hated economic freedom, it was linked with liberalism and he felt that capitalism ruined the countryside. Randolph Churchill formulated ‘Tory democracy’ which stated that in order to gain the support of the working-class they have to develop the empire by making them believe in it. Social reform shows social stability because it is bringing the public together and by supporting the state, they are also promoting stability. Harold Macmillan’s ‘middle way’, he advocated a sort of planning in a mixed economy by which the industries will be nationalised, run by the state. It illustrates stability because it is the idea of the organic state. It is the idea of keeping social cohesion. When the conservatives came back in 1951 they accepted the welfare state and the NHS nationalisation. They accepted it because it was popular and so helped to maintain stability.
Burke accepted capitalism therefore this demonstrates his belief in the economic freedom. As a traditional conservatism he believed in property. The belief in property suggest economic freedom, however it also suggest social stability because owning a house gives you a sense of belonging. There has always been a strand of liberal conservatism within the ideology, liberal have particularly liked capitalism e.g. Joseph Chamberlain. Thatcher was a New Right Conservative; she privatised industries which became efficient. By privatising industries such as BT, led to workers being laid off, unemployment was rising and people feeling bitter, therefore there was less social stability e.g. the battle of Orgreave, the miners strike. Margaret Thatcher refused to give in to what the miners wanted. She called the miners the ‘enemy within’, Thatcher placed economic stability. If Thatcher had agreed to subsidise the miners she would have been helping them, but instead she chose to place social stability after economic freedom. The fact that council flats were being sold to working-class people, made the working-class capitalist and this is not social stability as it caused the lack of in the .
Neo-conservatives belief about ‘turning backt he clock to the halcyon days of the 1950s’ does not put social stability before economic freedom. Thatcher did not enforse the belief of one-nation conservatism and single parents still felt alinated, it’s not stability because she was in the 1980s. If you victimised single parents and gays this would not be social stability as it is not one nation. The riot which was provoked in Brixton by the police was a good example of alienation because it was too authoritatrian and the police had too much power. Post new right – neo liberalism has always been strong, so therefore the y believe in economic freedom because ehtey have dropped neo-conservatism except in foreign policy. In other words they are now for single parents and gay rights e.g. meeting with stonewall, gay organisation. Tax credits, single parents will not be discrimintaed againts. Cameron’s belief in social responsibility links to social stabiliy. Cameron believs in economic freedom because he wants to reduce income tax. He does not want to regulate business.
All conservative leaders have dropped neo-conservatism because they were not anti-gay rights, single parent families. However, they are when it comes to froeign policy. So to what extent to which conservatives place social stability to economic freedom is debateable.
