Let’s take back control from this authoritarian Tory government

So now we know what “take back control” means: a cynical, shameless power grab by the Conservative party. Remember all that dewy-eyed rhetoric about restoring the sovereignty of Britain’s parliament? Let me shock you: I’m starting to think it might have been a con.

The Tories’ cynical breaking of MPs’ pairing agreements – where MPs from two parties agree not to vote – is simply the latest striking example. Tory chair Brandon Lewis reneging on his promise to the Liberal Democrat MP Jo Swinson – who was on maternity leave having just given birth – on the instruction of his chief whip, Julian Smith, was as morally repugnant as it was deceitful. “Their behaviour is an affront to the very rules of conduct we have in our parliamentary democracy,” as one former Tory cabinet minister puts it. “They have both lied and abused their positions in government to save their government jobs.”

This lie, out of fear of losing a parliamentary vote, is another example of the Tories’ authoritarian anti-democratic instincts. Last September, the Tories passed a motion giving the government the power to change legislation without parliamentary votes. These so-called “Henry VIII” powers were sold on the basis of honouring the EU referendum, but represented a repatriation of powers to the executive, not the legislature. Then there’s the longstanding plan to cut the number of MPs by 50 and redraw constituency boundaries in a manner that would favour Conservatives – even though in both the 2015 and the 2017 general election it took fewer votes on average to elect a Tory MP than a Labour MP.

The Tories’ desire to roll out voter ID across the country will disproportionately disenfranchise poorer and minority voters who lack passports or driving licences, just as it has done in the US. Conveniently, that would also target those voters who are the least likely to plump for the Tories. Then there’s the Trade Union Act 2016, which changed the rules of trade union political funding in an attempt to financially throttle the Labour party. Until they U-turned, the Tories attempted to cut so-called Short money, or state funding for opposition parties, in an attempt to undermine their ability to function.

It’s not just the actual policies: it’s the political culture. We live in a country, after all, where Tory newspapers and outriders smear their critics as “enemies of the people”, “saboteurs”, “traitors” and “mutineers”. There has been a deliberate attempt to delegitimise dissent as somehow treasonous, a deliberate strategy by the authoritarian rightwing populists in the ascendancy within the Conservative party.

The Tories have wedded a precarious grip on power – based on buying off the bigots of the DUP – with an authoritarian approach to governing. There is no contradiction between the two: it is their insecure position that encourages them to maintain power by whatever means necessary. They will lie, cheat and undermine democracy to stay in office. With a fear of a leftwing government the last possible unifier of a chaotic Conservative party, their behaviour will only deteriorate. And so surely that old rallying cry of “take back control” needs dusting off – let’s take back control from an authoritarian Conservative government.

• Owen Jones is a Guardian columnist