As Orwell understood, waging war against imaginary enemies serves to entrench abritrary power, not to challenge it. If @BBradley_Mans shares Orwell's concerns about diversity of thought, tolerance of dissent & abuse of power, he needs to address his party's own record. [THREAD] https://twitter.com/BBradley_Mans/status/1274085289733079046

1. Orwell warned repeatedly of a war on truth. Did @BBradley_Mans speak out when his party disguised its twitter-feed as a fake fact-checking site? Or when it produced a doctored video of Keir Starmer in November? Or when it ran adverts so misleading even Facebook took them down?

2. Orwell warned of an intolerance of dissent. Where was @BBradley_Mans when right-wing newspapers denounced MPs & judges as "Traitors", "Saboteurs" & "Enemies of the People"? Did he speak out when his party closed down Parliament, then threatened the judges for bringing it back?

3. Orwell deplored the abuse of language. Did Bradley warn of "newspeak" when his party renamed No Deal an "Australian Deal"; or spoke of "bringing back Parlt" while shutting out hundreds of MPs; or accused those who want Britain to face up to its past of "photoshopping" history?

4. Where was @BBradley_Mans when his party expelled 21 MPs for voting against the leadership - as Johnson himself had done under May? Or when it threatened to withdraw Channel 4's broadcasting license, and tried to ban unsympathetic journalists from official press briefings?

5. The Conservative Party has been in power for ten years. It has won four elections in a row, has a majority of 80 seats & overwhelming support in the press. To suggest that Britain is in the grip of a left-wing elite that is crushing diversity of thought is - well - "Orwellian"

6. As Orwell understood, blind obedience to the party is itself a grave danger to liberty. That's why Orwell himselff was such an unsparing critic of his own political camp. If @BBradley_Mans shares his concerns, he should follow his example. For as another great writer observed: