WE all have said things we later regret. The First Minister for example, would probably like to rewind the use of “Tories” and “detest” in the same sentence.

Without sounding too much like Donald Trump, I accept unreservedly there are “good people” who vote Conservative. Nevertheless, I’m still puzzled by their thinking and motivation. Despite the quotidian evidence to the contrary, they cling limpet-like to the touching belief that a blue rosette denotes competence and credibility and Conservatives have everyone’s best interests at heart.

Even after Ms Truss’ defenestration, some Tory voters speaking on the evening news regretted “she hadn’t had time to see her policies through.” In recent elections, the rural constituency where I used to live has returned Tory members to both Westminster and Holyrood. Indeed, a member of the local gentry is the MSP.

Of course, it’s an area where forelock tugging and deference to the local laird is a way of life. It’s more difficult however, to fathom Tory voters in areas that might have been deemed working class.

The spectacular collapse of Labour’s red wall in 2019 was a direct consequence of Brexit. In post-industrial areas such as north-east England, collective identity and personal esteem had been shaken, leaving people unsure of who they are anymore. Snake oil salesmen filled the vacuum, peddling a fiction based on who people thought they used to be. Windbags spouting vacuous slogans about Global Britain, getting Brexit done and taking back control, were presented with an open goal.

Their task was made easier by Labour’s pitiful defence of its heartland. Labour’s craven ambivalence towards the EU played into the hands of Messrs Johnson, Rees-Mogg and Farage. Labour’s hands are far from clean in the current crisis, firmly rooted in the fantasy of Brexit. Former members like me, can scarcely believe Sir Keir Starmer has yet to grasp the basic concept of leadership, i.e. you lead and shape policy and opinion. Man up Sir Keir; there’s more to it than union flags and empty sloganizing. Make Brexit Work – you cannot be serious.

There is, of course, one group of voters more culpable than any others for the chaos and crises of recent months. They are the 160,000 or so Conservative members, particularly the 81,000 who voted Ms Truss into Downing Street. The party keeps their precise number, demographic, and location close to its chest. I’d be willing to bet the majority are domiciled south of Watford.

Self-interest attracted them to the junior common room politics and economics of Ms Truss and her erstwhile chancellor. The bait of tax cuts proved irresistible, especially if future generations were to pick up the tab for the eye-watering national debt. Those 81,000 have a lot to answer for and share Ms Truss’ responsibility for crashing the economy.

It’s damnable that those whose stupidity has cost the country billions will walk away unscathed. As always, impending austerity will see reduced services and benefits for the most vulnerable. Pensioners though, will be protected: many vote Tory you see.

I have the occasional flight of fancy in which I see those most responsible paying the cost of foisting Ms Truss on us. All actions should have consequences and it could be a form of re- education. Wholesale transportation to an uninhabited island in the South Atlantic might be a tad harsh, but a case can be made for sequestration of assets, including houses that have exponentially increased in value. The proceeds might make only a small dent in the billions squandered due to half-witted political dogma, but it would certainly concentrate minds.

While we’re at it, how about a heavy windfall tax on those who made fortunes shorting sterling? Alternatively, the guilty could make amends by volunteering in hospitals and other services on which the heaviest cuts will fall.

Alas, it’s but a flight of fancy and the guilty will, as always, walk away. Nevertheless, something can be salvaged from the wreckage. Essentially, the recognition that a self-respecting democracy cannot allow a small, elitist group to impose a totally inadequate prime minister on the rest of us. Exclusion of the constituency-based, loony right from the selection process for the next occupant of Number Ten is a first step in the right direction. The next must be the validation of that choice through a General Election.

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