The Tories once had a radical fringe. Now it is the whole party

Let’s drop the niceties. Cut the pretence. Something is happening to the Tories, obvious even to that vast majority of the public who ignore politics. The Conservative party is becoming the natural party of extremists. It is the new home for hardliners, catastrophists and those wishing to take up permanent residence in la-la land. Evidence of this mutation is in every day’s headlines, and borne on a never-ending stream of tweets. It is Jacob Rees-Mogg, coolly suggesting that British representatives should run amok and cause chaos throughout the EU. It is openly acknowledged when the chancellor, Philip Hammond, utters a prayer to “flush out the extremists” in the party. And of course it is Mark Francois, doing Mark Francois. Forever auditioning to be lance corporal in a war that ended 20 years before he was born. Ripping up a letter from the CEO of Airbus, saying it was “German bullying”. Barking about “perfidious Albion on speed”, as if they were headlining Glastonbury.