The case for Tory boldness
James Forsyth 4:04pm
Over at Three Line Whip, Iain Martin argues that the Tories need a plan B as Gordon Brown shifts tactics. This is all goes back to the hares versus tortoises debate, with the hares thinking that the Tories need to be bold if they are to win a majority at the next election while the tortoises think that the Tories shouldn’t make any dramatic moves that might alarm the public.
Given Brown’s record in office so far, it is tempting to say that the Tories should just sit back and wait for the government to implode. But this would be a mistake for two reasons. First, there are signs that the Brown team are finally getting their act together and with reinforcements arriving at Number Ten the Tories won’t have it so easy in the future. Second, as Iain points out, Brown is quite capable of wrong footing the Tories by switching position.
Perhaps, a better analogy than hares and tortoises is light horse and infantry. The infantry want to keep the supply lines short and make steady progress towards a set target. While the light horses are prepared to extend their supply lines in the hope of landing some devastating blows on the enemy and to give themselves the opportunity to take advantage of opportunities as they arise.
The problem with the infantry approach is that it leaves the advancing army vulnerable to either the emergence of a new weapon or the enemy simply relocating. Given what we know of Brown’s strategic acumen, it is time--to continue this rather awkward metaphor--for David Cameron to saddle up.
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Comments
David
February 12th, 2008 4:48pm"Given what we know of Brown’s strategic acumen," What, other than it being poor so far? Various political commentators maintained this as Brown took over, only to look on in wide eyed astonishment as he completely botched things up.
Ian C
February 12th, 2008 5:50pmThe right thing to do is to kick him so hard now that he is down that he stays down. That means getting bolder the longer he is on the floor. After last autumn the risks attaching to boldness are vastly diminished if not extinguished completely. A ratchetting up of the 'political conversation' is what is needed - keep changing the subjest and get more radical with each proposal.
Balaclava
February 12th, 2008 6:14pmThe problem with the lighthorse argument is that you can find yourself easily cut off in the wrong position with no support.... Historically the cavalry's reputation was as a bunch of Flashmans who are the death or glory boys, who need to be very lucky to succeed... ....is Cameron lucky?
J H Holloway
February 12th, 2008 6:51pmI think that political commentators give too much credence to Brown's potential. Read the reader responses on the BBC, Telegraph and Daily Mail websites for example. The people are completely hacked off with New Labour.
Remember good old Michael Howard got within 3 percent of Labour's vote and knocked 100 off Labour's majority in 2005.(I'll never forget the look on Campbell's face the next day, They thought they'd walk it again).
Things have moved on since then and Labour is bust. We could ponder Gordon's use of more modern fonts on his press releases...but truth is, it's all over. The next two years will be pure entertainment and the centralising dinosaur slowly sinks into the mud.
Travis Bickle
February 12th, 2008 7:13pmNo need for anyone to be going for the kill at this stage. Let Brown's shambolic government continue to unfold by itself until the next election campaign.
Oscar Miller
February 12th, 2008 9:27pmI favour a bit more boldness from team Cameron. They are best when they are boldest (to coin a phrase) - remember the IHT coup. Anyway politics is getting so boring with the long and dreary death throes of McLabour. Conservatives have the chance to really make the running now and capitalise on last year's momentum - lets see a bit more of that.
Max Kaye
February 12th, 2008 10:01pmBrown's strategic acumen? It's about as worthy as his real economic record. Keep kicking him hard and don't stop until he's out - for good.
David Parker
February 13th, 2008 11:23amIf the Lisbon Con/Treaty is ratified it won't really matter which party wins the next election, since they will have lost the power even to control British domestic politics. Cameron's only chance is to devote his whole energy into alerting the public to the importance of the Lisbon Treaty and to give a categorical pledge that the Conservatives will revoke it, as their first act, as soon as they are returned to power.
TGF UKIP
February 13th, 2008 12:30pmP12 headline in Monday's Telegraph (Gordongraph?) "Tories look to tax cuts to help economy" with apparently "an elegant retreat" in that direction being discussed. That just about says it all,the leadership of a party that's supposed to be a conservative party viewing a move towards tax cuts as a "retreat." Is this to be, though, the new Heir to Blair spin - a bold retreat! The next couple of polls are going to be very interesting and could trigger an awful lot of very difficult to face questions for the Tory Leadership.