The Tory attack operation warms up
Peter Hoskin 8:58am
There's a punchy op-ed from David Cameron in today's Guardian, centred around this three-pronged attack on Brown's borrowing binge:
"But excessive borrowing, adding to permanent national debt, to cut taxes or boost spending is the wrong approach. There are three reasons for this.The first is that we simply cannot afford it. We're already mired in debt thanks to Brown's age of irresponsibility - £2.4 trillion at the last estimate - so we have nothing to fall back on. Paying back Brown's planned £15bn borrowing binge will mean the equivalent of an additional £880 tax bill for every family in Britain. Imagine the toll this would take on people. Think of the drag anchor for an economy in recovery.
The second reason is that it has been proved not to work. The Japanese followed the same strategy in the 1990s, pushing through an unfunded fiscal stimulus, racking up crippling debt, achieving little beyond white elephant public works programmes. There is no evidence it would work here and now.
My third objection is that Labour's strategy could actually be counter-productive. At some point the question may stop being "how much more does the government want to borrow?" and become "how much more are markets prepared to lend?" The combination of our already huge budget deficit with a further borrowing binge could compromise investor confidence which might, in turn, force up interest rates. At a time when low interest rates are exactly what businesses need to survive and prosper, we cannot afford for this to happen."
The article as a whole is another sign that the Tory attack operation is finally warming up. As Tim Montgomerie pointed out yesterday, it seems to be solidifying around a few key themes - and is all the more powerful because of it. More powerful, too, because it is now more visible. The number of Tory op-eds, media appearances, talking heads and soundbites seems to have risen appreciably over the past few days. Certain figures in the shadow cabinet also seem to be making themselves more prominent (cf. Alan Duncan and his effective line yesterday about Brown "trying to govern by propaganda").
Sure, Cameron and Osborne have work to do yet. They are, on the whole, still being outspun by the reinvigorated No.10 operation, and there are still major question marks over what their actual response to the financial and economic crises would be. Cameron will hope to at least partially deal with the second of these issues today, by outlining how the Tories might pay for tax cuts by cutting back on spending. Will it be enough to end what Rachel Sylvester refers to, in another excellent column, as a "whispering campaign" against the Cameroons? We shall see.
Previous
Short the UK
November 18th, 2008 9:37am Report this commentNow that they have declared war (thank ****) it is time to back them up. All guns should now be aimed and fired at the Brown camp.
Tally-ho.
Huw Thornton
November 18th, 2008 9:48am Report this commentGood comment about work needed to specify a Tory response to the financial and economic crisis.
David Cameron is certainly right to mention Japan. The problem is that the Japanese went on enthusistically with their white-elephant projects for a decade or so before concluding that such an approach was not really having any positive effect. DC needs to show NOW how government policies are not working. And that, to say the least, is not easy, given that few people have expectations of an instantaneous miracle cure.
Obnoxio The Clown
November 18th, 2008 10:16am Report this commentAbout f***ing time, too!
Bob.India
November 18th, 2008 10:42am Report this commentAtta Boy, Dave - that's more like it but let's keep it simple and get more up close and personal. Stuff like "Brown's age of irresponsibility" is a nice start but we really need to see some clear, direct and highly damaging attacks on Brown's so called competence that the average Sun reader will understand and emotionally respond to.
Same brief to the boy George!
Lance Grundy
November 18th, 2008 10:43am Report this commentSomething else the Conservatives need to deal with is this Brown line “the crisis that started in America” and the “the worldwide downturn.” He has repeated these phrases ad nauseum until, like it or not, they are now firmly ensconced in people’s mind. They also contain an element of truth making it very hard to dispute them outright.
So why not take the ball and run with it? Use the phrases too – just like Brown does at EVERY opportunity, but put some ‘spin’ on them. Cameron and Osborne should steal these lines and make then their own.
Why don’t they start saying things like “the crisis that started in America that Gordon Brown brought to Britain” or “The worldwide downturn that Gordon Brown’s policies have turned into a British recession?” Come on guys this is politics for dummies.
If the Tories use these lines half as often as Brown does then every time they hear a Labour Party Minister saying, for example, “the crisis that started in America” Mr Joe Public will then think “that Gordon Brown brought to Britain.” It’s political word association When you say “eggs” why do I think “bacon
Richard Holloway
November 18th, 2008 10:47am Report this commentAt last... they've let Brown hog the entire narrative for far too long.
Perhaps now we can start operating like an opposition again.
TGF UKIP
November 18th, 2008 11:31am Report this commentLong, long overdue but it's only a tentative start on catching up the long lead they've allowed Gordon to establish on the economy.
What they've got to nail Gordon on, is the line that every Labour figure trots out in every media interview "Because we've got Britain's debt down to one of the lowest in the world we are in a strong position to borrow."
Dave's got to get over his distaste for figures and seriously start learning some. As I'v posted before, man who speaketh with stastics and jargon = economic heavyweight, man who speaketh in soundbites = PR lightweight.
As for a "whispering campaign" against the Cameroons, it should be a lividly, angry shouting and bawling campaign for their lamentable failure to nail this god awful government and consign the Labour Party to the dustbin for decades to come.
Russell
November 18th, 2008 11:38am Report this commentTotally agree that Cameron (and every member of the opposition cabinet)should keep reminding people that the UK currency is falling due to Brown & Co and their incompetence and it was Brown who has caused the UK problems due to government and private debt. The tories should be appearing on tv at every opportunity talking about the DELUSIONAL PM Brown and repeating this over and over until the thicker elements of the public understand that they have been lied to by a biassed BBC news, Question Time, Daily Politics etc.etc. about Brown & Labour.
liz Brown
November 18th, 2008 11:39am Report this commentThe Tories also need to state exactly how much is underspent in Govt departments when they attack on the huge bungs that Liebore is proposing to hose down the drain
@Lane - i like the "that Gordon Brown brought to the UK" and hope that the Tories take this on board
Nick
November 18th, 2008 11:40am Report this commentI found it extraordinary that Osborne was villified for highlighting the (further) dangers to sterling of increased borrowing yet Brown is able to raise the spectre of deflation, in yesterday's HoC speech, with nary a flutter of complaint.
If anything can "talk down the economy" it is raising the possibility that there is no need to spend today because prices will be cheaper in three months time. And once deflation sets in it is extraordinarily difficult to beat as the Japanese have shown over the last 15 years.
geoff
November 18th, 2008 1:17pm Report this commentIn the end we are going to have Cameron's plain talk and sense, vs. Brown spin & deceit...
http://cassiuswrites.blogspot.com/2008/11/if-you-want-to-invoke-patriotism-mr.html
Brown will rue the day he quoted Maggie.
Ian C
November 18th, 2008 6:34pm Report this commentIn a year's time mainstream opinion will be that failed institutions will have to be allowed to fail and new ones rapidly built. Cameron has just begun that journey himself, but it is the only conclusion that can be drawn as the economy has gone too far downhill.
But this is the only way that the swiftest conclusion to the crisis will happen. At present Brown and Darling, and most other countries, are prolonging the pain resulting in a longer depression than necessary. A few months ago noone in gov't saw anything but a mild downturn. Toay they are praying for a V shaped one. Even if it is it cannot get good enough for them in the time available and will stuff them.
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