Mad, bad and dangerous to know: we are witnessing the Tories’ final descent into absurdity

‘The Tories don’t like a country that is shaped by 13 years of their rule but prefer not to take responsibility.’ Suella Braverman in Manchester on Tuesday. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

The Conservatives have embraced the spirit of opposition with the arrogance of a party that is used to being in government. Their conference in Manchester is a festival of complaint about the condition of Britain undisturbed by contrition for having presided over its decline.

Taxes are too high, they say, and borders are too porous. International human rights treaties are too binding; teachers are not doing enough teaching; police are not doing enough policing; there are too few doctors and too many civil servants. Children spend too long on their phones; benefit claimants are too lazy; speed limits are too low.