There was an iconic moment in Cameron's speech yesterday, when he said:
"So let us show clearly which side we are on. Let optimism beat pessimism. Let sunshine win the day."
What a load of nonsense! I can't imagine any other serious politician currently or in history being daft enough to emit such twaddle as "Let sunshine win the day".
Simon Hoggart has brilliantly lampooned the statement today:
"Let sunshine win the day!" cried David Cameron. Never before has a Tory conference been addressed by Polyanna and Morecambe & Wise. It seems at odds with Conservative policy on global warming - they're against it - but it summed up the spirit of the speech. Let motherhood reign! An apple pie on every window sill! Don't forget your factor 15 and the new Maeve Binchy!
Stephen Tall has also commented quite pithily on this. And the prize for wittiest reply goes to Liberal Voice.
Words, short of pithy Anglo-Saxon ones, fail me. To properly describe Cameron's statement, not for the first time, I am forced to borrow a phrase, from General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr, which I believe originates in the US Army:
"Bovine Scatology"
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It may be bull, but IMO Cameron's no fool and it would be a big mistake to underestimate him. He knows exactly how his opponents will react to his content-free sounds bites but that's not the point. All he has to do right now is come over as nice-guy Dave to the public at large. That's it.
ReplyDeleteActual policies are pretty much irrelevant when it comes to battle between the two main contenders, particularly at this stage. There are two reasons he isn't detailing any: i. if he does, labour will (as I heard that wild old bird Michael Heseltine say a while back) just pinch them and he'll be left with a busted flush and ii. see my first point - it's all about personalities.
As I say, he's no fool. If I was on his team I'd be telling him to do exactly what he's doing and to save a few radical policy announcements for when the real fight starts.
For example, I think that if, once an election date is known, he should announce that he'd scrap anything with the word nuclear in it (i.e. 'power' and 'deterrent') and spend the savings on a massive investment in sustainable energy sources and public transport. And you know what? If he did that, I might - speaking as someone who has never voted Tory in his life - actually vote for him.
So, there's my half-pence worth. What would you be advising him to do, Paul?
Er, I meant 'wise old bird'!
ReplyDeleteThanks anon. Good points. I would be advising him to introduce some policies otherwise the 60% of people recently polled who think he talks a good talk but don't know what he stands for will solidfy and grow into a large body of distrust. In fact, the point that he hasn't got any policies is a myth - having a British Bill of Rights after abolishing the Human Rights Act is a massive policy.
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