See If This Sounds Familiar

"Almost every post-war Tory victory had been won on slogans such as 'Britain Strong and Free' or 'Set The People Free'. But in the fine print of policy, and especially in government, the Tory Party merely pitched camp in the long march to the left. It never seriously tried to reverse it. ... We boasted of spending more money than Labour, not of restoring people to independence and self-reliance. The result of this style of accomodationist politics, as my colleague Keith Joseph complained, was that post-war politics became a 'socialist ratchet' - Labour moved Britain towards more statism; the Tories stood pat; and the next Labour Government moved the country a little further left. The Tories loosened the corset of socialism; they never removed it."

Thatcher, Margaret - The Downing Street Years; Harper Collins