What centre ground?

Claiming  to occupy the "centre ground" is a popular ploy in British politics and the Tories did  so vociferously in their conference last week.  However, Ian Dent (5th October) and  Simon Wren-Lewis (6th October) have paid more attention to the detail of the conference than I have and between them have enumerated the following proposals:

• to phase out foreign doctors
• to cut down on the number of foreign students
• to jail landlords if they fail to check their tenants' residency papers
• to "name and shame" companies with a high percentage of foreigners in their workforces

In addition, leading-up to the conference, the government has announced plans to :

• build a protective wall round Euro-tunnel entrance at Calais 
• reintroduce educational selection at 11 plus
• use the status of EU migrants already here as a "bargaining chip" in the forthcoming negotiations.

Happily they have already rowed back on  "name and shame" part of the proposal  regarding companies employing a significant percentage of foreigners - they will now just collect the information - but the intention reveals the true nature of the their  thinking.

If this is the centre ground then one shudders to think what a far-right party would sound like.  With these proposals the Conservatives shame themselves.