When a former Cabinet Minister and long-term MP quits the party she has served for more than a quarter of a century, you may be sure there is something seriously amiss with that party.
When she transfers her loyalty to a new and rebellious grouping, with a handful of MPs but the support of millions of voters, you can tell that the whole political landscape is trembling.
Politicians do not burn their bridges in this way unless there are major changes afoot. Everything we knew and accepted as normal is dissolving and crumbling. A new politics is beginning.
It is a century since the collapse of the Liberal Party began the long domination of Parliament by Labour and the Tories. Today neither of these parties properly speaks for those who have until now voted for them.
That era is coming to an end, though nobody can be sure of what will emerge once the convulsion is over. The news we break today, that Nadine Dorries is crossing over from the Conservatives to Reform, is sensational and significant.
The old party system is dying because the Britain we used to know and love is dying. Sadly, the Tories have become a feeble shadow of the movement that rescued our economy and recaptured the Falklands under Margaret Thatcher.
The news we break today, that Nadine Dorries is crossing over from the Conservatives to Reform, is sensational and significant. The old party system is dying
An incompetent, economically illiterate Starmer government, in thrall to the disastrous dogmas of Net Zero and nostalgic for the bondage of EU membership, fails in everything it does
But, while they are bad, Labour is far, far worse. An incompetent, economically illiterate Starmer government, in thrall to the disastrous dogmas of Net Zero and nostalgic for the bondage of EU membership, fails in everything it does.
Its Chancellor of the Exchequer is understandably reduced to tears, after the total collapse of her efforts to get spending under control.
Britain now borrows to pay the interest on its debts, an unsustainable position which can only lead to poverty. It is the people of Britain, not Rachel Reeves, who may be excused for weeping.
Labour cannot keep our streets safe or our borders secure. It destroys good schools out of spite. The NHS is at least as bad under its control as it was under the Tories, though more expensive.
It cannot cure itself of toadying to trade unions. All its promises turn to dust within days of being unveiled. Its own senior figures are just as reluctant to pay the punitive taxes it imposes as anyone else. Having portrayed itself falsely as the party of rectitude and propriety, it is up to its chin in scandal after just over a year in office.
At this moment, all those talents on the Right who seriously care for this country must come together.
For all their differences, those who still regard themselves as conservatives have enough in common to forge an electoral weapon to shatter Starmerism, and to build a political programme which would begin a true national recovery.
The only way that this Starmer government can be decisively dismissed is if the forces of patriotism, common sense, lawfulness, thrift, honesty, experience and wisdom – the elements that conservatism is made of – join together to recapture office.
Before the 2024 General Election, the Daily Mail warned time and again that voting for Nigel Farage’s Reform Party would only help Labour. Our voting system made this inevitable, and so it proved. We took no pleasure in being right. In fact, it is hard to think of a time when a correct prophecy has also been such a bitter pill.
All of us, whether we warned against the outcome, whether we ignored the warning, or whether we heeded it, have had to live under this atrocious administration and must face doing so, possibly for years to come.
Millions yearn to see this unwanted shambles of a government gone. Even those who deliberately voted for it are beginning to wonder what they have done. Rarely in modern political history has buyer’s remorse been so widespread and so rapid.
So how can we get from here, trapped in this dismal position, misgoverned by dogmatic buffoons who do not even understand their own ideology, to where we wish to be, with a government desired by the inhabitants of this country and serving their wishes?
Who in these circumstances can blame Nadine Dorries for joining forces with Nigel Farage?
Over the summer, Mr Farage has repeatedly and eloquently articulated the gathering public anger over the small boats crisis and the uncontrolled mass immigration which, if not curbed, will eventually turn this country into somewhere else.
Amid the complacency of well-off metropolitan liberals, who form such a large part of our political and media classes, his voice has been one of clarity and urgency.
And, while other politicians have either been on holiday or have been so absent that they might as well have been on holiday, Mr Farage has been doing his democratic duty, speaking for the millions who long for some leadership on this issue but never seem to get it.
While other politicians have either been on holiday or have been so absent that they might as well have been, Mr Farage has been doing his democratic duty
Mr Farage has repeatedly and eloquently articulated the gathering public anger over the small boats crisis and the uncontrolled mass immigration which, if not curbed, will eventually turn this country into somewhere else
But he has not yet earned himself a clear run to Downing Street. He is good at launching accurate guided missiles, but not so good – so far – at setting out clear, credible plans for building a better future.
Reform, his party, plainly has far to go in the short time it has to make an impact. It has said a great deal about crime and immigration. But we have not, for instance, heard much about how it will fix the grotesquely bloated welfare state.
What exactly is Reform’s recipe for economic growth, vital for the national future?
There is still a giant government debt. Reform will not be able to cut taxes and support the growth of healthy business simply by ejecting the lachrymose Ms Reeves from the Treasury.
To achieve these complex goals, it will need allies, even allies who currently remain in the Tory Party.
Alas, the Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, has so far failed to achieve a revival in the polls for all her steely determination.
But other figures such as Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick and Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp have both demonstrated an admirable willingness to hit the Starmerites where it hurts.
Among a generally dreary assemblage of backward-looking and demoralised backbenchers, Katie Lam and Nick Timothy have shown promise.
And, of course, we cannot forget Boris Johnson, uniquely able to communicate a message to millions, uniquely recognisable, uniquely filled with infectious positivity and energy.
Even the remnants of the Tory Party contain considerable political skill, experience, organisation and policy ideas.
From Reform and from these elements, a new election-winning machine can surely be formed, which can combine in a great popular insurgency to sweep away Sir Keir Starmer, sweep aside the Liberal Democrats, the Greens and Jeremy Corbyn, and the rest of the ruinous zealots and fanatics who have somehow captured the levers of government.
And today could be the day that insurrection begins.
