Britain’s Conservative Party has launched an unprecedented attack on a prominent conservative activist following allegations that an organisation named ‘Conservative Grassroots’ is attempting to “pass itself off” as officially linked to the political party.
Breitbart London understands that a legal letter was addressed to Mr Benjamin Harris-Quinney, who is the Chairman of the Bow Group think-tank and director of the grassroots organisation ‘Conservative Grassroots’. The letter claims that due to the use of the colour blue on the Conservative Grassroots website, and indeed the use of the word ‘conservative’, Mr Harris-Quinney’s organisation is “passing off” the non-affiliated group as affiliated to the Tories.
Conservative Grassroots and the Bow Group have been staunch critics of David Cameron’s liberal policies such as same-sex marriage, asserting that there is nothing conservative about it, and that the party has been taken over by the liberal-left – an analysis that bears weight when considering the rise of the UK Independence Party.
But the legal attack from Tory HQ on a grassroots group seems quite bizarre given the group’s ability to influence members and policy. A Conservative Party spokesperson told Breitbart London, “Conservative Grassroots Limited has no affiliation whatsoever with the Conservative Party. We will continue to take action against any organisations which incorrectly suggest they are affiliated or associated with the Conservative Party.”
But Conservative Grassroots wouldn’t want to be affiliated with the Tories, insiders say. It would damage the organisation to be perceived as part of Cameron’s Conservative Party, although it has been endorsed by a number of right-wing Tory MPs.
The move is believed to be the work of Tory activists who have taken unkindly to Mr Harris-Quinney’s criticisms of the party as of late, which they feel is unhelpful heading into a General Election in 9 months. Last week Mr Harris-Quinney wrote for Breitbart London, expressing concerns over threats against him. He wrote:
“It was therefore a disappointment, if not a surprise, to receive a call from someone on the Conservative Party’s candidates list last night to inform me that unless I ceased to question this move towards a new Party structure I would be expelled from the Conservative Party for being a “racist and homophobe”.”
A letter sent by law firm Hill Dickinson reads, “In the event that our client’s are ignored we will have no hesitation in advising it to take immediate steps to protect its position, including litigation if necessary”
The Conservative Party has in recent years been accused of taking a hostile and aggressive approach to grassroots conservative activists. This most recent development may be interpreted as a sure a sign as any that the Tories are no longer interested in the party base, and will indeed take legal action against those even working in the name of (small-c) conservatism.
The action is likely to have passed over the desk of Conservative Party Chairman Grant Shapps, who is one of the key faces behind the ‘RoadTrip2015’ bus campaign, which shuttles young Tories around the country to make up for the fact that the party has lost many local activists to UKIP, and to apathy.
UPDATE: Tory Activists are taking to their social media accounts to bemoan the actions of the central party, with one noteworthy contribution reading: “And this is why this conference will be my last for this shambles of a party. Infiltrated by the left and full of spineless, power hungry , talentless morons repeatedly saying ‘working for a conservative majority’ ‘for hard working people’ ‘for women’ etc etc. Just like the left, they try to silence the truth and those who speak sense. The only person who was recently able to restore some of my energy for this party was Ben Harris – Quinney”.