In this morning's Telegraph Iain Dale looks to expose what he sees as Gordon Brown's real agenda - the destruction of the Tory party. With all due respect to Iain this shouldn't comes as a particularly revelatory moment for anyone. Tempting though it may be it adds little to the discussion to adopt some sort of faux distaste for this motive, as though Brown has taken an already dishonourable and murky trade (politics) to new lows - this is tribal and personal and everyone knew it would end up here.When I was still blogging last year I flagged the obvious fact that ‘team Brown’ were never going to try and tackle Cameron in the ‘ordinary guys’ stakes because they know their man is a different beast - broody, intellectual and seen as serious to a fault. Basic campaign tactics tell you to play to your strengths and the ad revealed in yesterday's story about Saatchi & Saatchi winning the Labour contract ('Not flash, just Gordon') confirms this is likely to be Labour's angle. And yet, the theme of the first six months of ’07 was ‘Brown the geek’ and every effort was made to associate Cameron with that ‘real heir to Blair’ tag - the very adjectives and personality traits that would shortly become political millstones round Cameron's neck (slick, modern, in touch etc.) were enthusiastically embraced by the Tories and the very ones that the public were beginning to warm to and look for in their leaders (serious, heavyweight, perhaps even dour) were thrown like mud at their opponent - Brown must have been lapping it up. This was the most basic of campaigning failures, an almost 'schoolboy error' that saw the Tories effectively branding their own man as 'yesterday's news'. The smile on Brown's face for the first six months of this year wasn't just because he was about to land the job he always craved - he was amused at how effective a campaign manager Cameron was being for him.
If these fairly mundane insights were occurring to lowly bloggers like me why didn’t they appear to land in CCHG? In his Telegraph piece Iain mentions the row over John Bercow & Patrick Mercer's cooperation with Brown and says it's 'incredible that these three intelligent individuals couldn't understand the political game being played out'. Perhaps, but isn't it more incredible that CCHQ (who after all have direct responsibility for campaigning, tactics etc. unlike individual MP's) didn't see this line of attack coming and have a ready response?
Of course Brown would like to see the Tories disintegrate and he's too adept a politician to pass up any opportunities that present themselves to hasten that outcome. He's also, as yesterday afternoon's tea guest illustrates, more than capable of fashioning a few opportunities himself. For those broadly sympathetic to the Tories we can only hope that the arrival of Andy Coulson, Cameron's new communications chief, means the Tories are about to raise their game. There are dangers here however so more on that shortly...
Labels: Politics
5 Comments:
A arm welcome back, Cassilis. I know exactly what you meant in your 'resignation speech' in January, but you are much too hard on yourself. You do adavance some really intelligent argument, and unlike most of us on 'political blogs' (or should I say blogs about politics because most of us don't engage in very much political thought) yours was refreshing because of the absence of polemic.
I don't ever meet Conservatives. Oh, there are some right wing buggers who come in the pub spouting off, but I mean proper Conservatives. So there is no engagement normally. Unless I read newspaper columns (am I going toread The Telegraph? - No) I have no way of understanding what or how (or if) Conservatives think about anything. Your blog postings, and the handful of less polemical Conservative blogs, have helped me to appreciate where you're coming from. I still don't agree... but at least I understand.
Anyway... welcome back, but still find time for the family. Oh, and by the way.... your typeface is too small for my aging fading eyesight.
That's very kind Bob - and yes, I think I've lightened up a bit from the polemic below. There'll be no fussing over traffic or obsessing about regular posts - when I'm here I'm here and when I'm not I'm not and this blogging thing will come a long way down the list of priorities (a list my family tops).
Will review the font thing...
I'm new to your blog - seems very good, this peice on Brown is spot on, the Tories really should have seen this coming.
Thank you Gordon.
Even if you & I don't share a political outlook we both like Miles Davis so we can't be all bad.
(and although I'm not a football nut, when I do take an interest in the Scottish game I'm a Celtic fan so my lingering respect for O'Neill translates into a passing affection for Villa these days...)
Bob Piper`s desire for intelligent discussion is like a Dachshunds desire to copulate with you leg.As Inconguous an activity as it is redundant...but he seems to enjoy himself so why upset the silly sausage
I really enjoyed your contribution on Dales blog. I am not ( don`t tell anyone ) all that extreme in my views and appreciated a proper perspective even though I disagreed in parts .
THis was what I said
More brilliance from Cassilis although I do not agree .....
I do not actually agree with your points on tax which assume that lowering tax will will lower revenue . No , not if it increases growth and reduces avoidance . See Ireland . You also assume there is no waste in the system ...well thats just a bit silly isn`t it Mr. Cassilis hmmm?
I also disagree with your inference that the way to close up the widening clas gaps is through the welfare state . It is through the slow careful removal of distorting reliance on the welfare state Although this is a difficult and slow process. I approve of your mention of La Toynbee though . Without better access to opportunity the moral case for a smaller state becomes emerded with inequality and we cannot be the party of just the priveleged
I also disagree with you that tax poured into education is a zero sum game . I think the spending is about 80% up in real terms since 97/8 and we have achieved a position far behind our competitors where you can obtain enough A s to cascade down the page like a suicidal scream by spelling your own name . Discipline , accountability teaching practice and social mix are just as cheap as getting it wrong
I agree with your socially Liberal remarks -ish but to say there should be no place in the Party for those who think immigration is an unalloyed evil is itself rather a fascist attitude . It is an entirely reasonable point of view to take,.The economic advantage has been misrepresented. The cost to cultural capital ignored and its has also been allowed quite undemocratically . It is now mainstream thinking that immigration has been handled appallingly badly and if some are a little enthusiastic in their defence of the country`s culture and integrity I dispute utterly that there is no place for them in the Conservative Party. I can see little good in it myself and great harm has been done by closing this subject down with accvusations of racism.
So it would appear I agree with little of what you say but that is not the case I recognise the sort of Conservatism you are describing and ( here again I take issue) I believe Margaret Thatcher’s 'clean 'little secret was that she was also far less doctrinaire than her own rhetoric although her views changed with time . I would put it this way . The coalition of views required to get Brown out must consist of Liberals at the left of the localist Green and Libertarian sort, One nation Conservatives centrally and what I take to be the Cassilis view as described in the book After Blair . It should stretch through nationalists , traditionalists , tax cutters and small business interest, Euro sceptics and , yes the socially illiberal . At the moment every fine detail of difference is howled out to the moon when it is entirely clear that David Cameron is a straightforward Conservative.
My view is that the Party should be more comfortable with difference return to compromise and pragmatism and stop grandstanding when we have a leader doing a magnificent job who deserves support from a broad spectrum . It is a welcome relief to see some support for David Cameron here though and your long view of Conservatism is one that I relish.
All the best cassilis , even if you are a bit of a wet
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