The choice facing the Tories

Patrick

The Tories do not need to go negative. The Sun, Sky News, the blogs and the man on the street will do that for them in spades.

If I were Dave I'd stick to points 1 or 2 and smile to myself as Guido rips Brown a new one.

RMH

If people are stupid enough to vote Labour, then let them reap what they vote.

Sally Chatterjee

It's got the Conservatives on the back foot, they are being forced to defend themselves.

They should have deferred IHT reform, it's not top priority stuff. They should have checked whether Goldsmith was a non-dom. They should fix Lord Ashcroft's position. I could go on...

But since they haven't done these things it leaves an open goal for Labour.

Vulture

Oh God - he's clutching his chin again.
As well as being heir to Blair, Dave is Obama lite: takes ages to make a decision, then when he's made it its inevitably wrong.

Bruin will use every trick to smear the Tories. They should hit ( and kick) back hard. The dirty election is on, and may the worst man win.

Nick

I agree that "launching a positive fightback" must be the primary Tory policy.

However I don't think that Brown's attacks should be ignored but must be robustly countered. If Brown attacks Cameron in PMQs for his schooling then Cameron should reply "it ill-behoves the PM to resort to personal attacks" and then move on. Similarly when Labour attack the Tories for their "do nothing" approach to the banking crisis it should be politely pointed out that this is a lie and that the Tories had and do have economic policies that would have been better than Labour's ill-thought through bank bail-outs and VAT cut.

TrevorsDen

The only surprise is that some people are surprised.

This has ALWAYS been labours line of attack against the Tories.

The IHT proposal is easily dealt with. The only people who will NOT benefit are millionaires - since the tax starts at £1 million. The labour attack is so totally wrong headed as to beggar belief - you would think it only applied to millionaires (mind you the attack comes from a man who thinks Spain is in the G20, the man who thought selling off gold at the bottom of the market was a neat idea).
Have the Tories said they would repeal the 50p tax band? No.

The Tory attack is simple - given Labours record of promises (ie the EU Constitution referendum) you cannot believe a word they say.

"IT'S THEIR RECORD, STUPID"

HJ

A few ideas for Cameronand the Tories to counter Brown:

1. Cut taxes on the poor, especially by raising tax thresholds. This is easily contrasted with Brown. This can be paid for (in the short term) by freezing the higher rate threshold.

2. Reform inheritance tax properly. At the moment it is a 'death tax' not an inheritance tax. It is the estate of the person that dies which pays the tax. It has nothing to do with how much individual inheritors receive. Capital gains tax should instead be paid by individual inheritors.

3. This one will really catch Brown out. Cameron should renounce his right to benefit from the MPs pension scheme. He should announce that it is immoral for him to benefit from a gold-plated scheme while most people have had their pensions robbed by Brown. Instead he should just take an employer contribution of around 6% of salary into a money purchase scheme (the private sector norm) This will put the spotlight on Brown. He can then ask "How can you (i.e. Brown) take a taxpayer-funded pension which will ensure your financial security for life, when you have robbed the pension schemes of millions who now face an uncertain retirement and when you are leaving the country with a public sector deficit of £200bn?"

Mr Leatherhead

Options 1,2 nd 3 are not mutually exclusive! Each can be deployed for specific situations.

DavidDP

I'd hold fire myself. Despite Campbell's rose-tinted spectacles, no opposition party spelled out so much this far in advance of an election.

Keep the powder dry, and don't dance to the tune of those who would have us defeated, whether on the left or the right.

Dean

The personality of the Tory candidate is not the only reason why we should be cautious about drawing conclusions from the Crewe and Nantwich campaign. The by-election was won by the Tories before last autumn's financial crash and the ensuing recession. Since then, the Tories have moved significantly to the Right (a shift best personified by George Osborne). So old doubts about the Tories are starting to re-surface, particularly amongst those suffering job losses or insecurity.

The country needs a change of government, so the dominant theme of the election will be "it's time for a change", but the Tories desperately need to re-learn the lesson that general elections are won on the centre ground. There has been too much focus on the need for steep cuts in public spending, and some old prejudices (e.g. against public sector employees) are starting to re-emerge in Tory rhetoric. Furthermore, the Tories do not seem to appreciate the extent to which the credit crisis has altered public perceptions about capitalism and reliance on market forces. They keep banging on about de-regulation and private sector involvement in the NHS as though they were re-living their last period in office, when free market fundamentalism reigned unchallenged. The world has moved on - if you don't believe me, pick up any recent copy of the FT or, better still, read Adair Turner's recent brilliant speech to the CBI Annual Conference (www.fsa.gov.uk).

On balance, I still think the "it's time for a change" message will prevail at the election. The problem is that, if the Tories don't break through the 40% barrier, they will be left with a hung parliament, which will reinforce Cameron's pre-disposition to fudge policy issues.

The problem is not Cameron - it is that he has allowed his modernisation project to be de-railed. The Tories have become complacent because of Brown's severe weaknesses as a leader, and now they are paying the price.

R King

I think that Cameron should be prepared to replace Osbourne with Phil Hammond the sooner the better.
I'm sure Osbourne has got a pet budgie or maiden aunt somewhere that needs his full attention over the next few months.
They will constantly be referred to the Bullingdon Boys or whatever by the Brown squad. A sitting target!!
Each time Brown makes one of his/Campbell remarks at PMQ's then Cameron should ask him if Campbell was the author. Eventually the public will become aware of what nasty people are behind Brown.

Publius

Good points, and I agree with Patrick too. Let the attack-dogs do the negative stuff -- highlighting Labour's hypocrisy in sending their own to private schools, and lining their pockets while the rest suffer.

As for "Team Cameron" -- more focus on the virtues of a free, liberal, low-tax, society, as opposed to Labour's grim, taxing, controlling Big Brother state.

Naomi Muse

Be wary of Campbell - that's all.

Points 1 and 2 are right.

Say that it is the government who have got us into this mess and should be under scrutiny right now and reiterate good solid subjects in points 1 and 2.

michael m

DC must drop the ridiculous Inheritance Tax pledge- it will never be implemented and just makes Brown/Campbell's task that much easier. This could be DC's " Clause 4 " moment- the quicker he does it the betteR.

DavidDP

"They should have deferred IHT reform,"

They have. It's "an aspiration", which attracted the opprobrium of many here.

Dorothy Wilson

The Conservatives should "leap over" this. Build on the points set out in ii above. In doing so they should also be able to show Labour as the negative party without overtly stating so. Take the high ground!

And Brown keeps trying to portray DC as someone with no policies. As a matter of interest, where are his? That is apart from using smear tactics.

Dennis Churchill

When it is discussed that the Conservatives should go:“Negative” it seems to be interpreted within the political class mind set.
Real “ Negative “ would be to demand an explanation about the Neather revealations. And keep on demanding it.
“Negative” would be to emphasis the population projections now at 70 million within a generation and make the consequences, particularly in the Southeast, clear.
“Negative” would be to concentrate on a failed and almost comically inept criminal justice system.
“Negative” would be to hammer home the consequences of the Lisbon Treaty and be honest about whether the UK is still a sovereign nation in any meaningful sense.
“Negative” is to condemn Blair for acting like a junior barrister, who thought his task was to act as a advocate for the Iraqi invasion rather than the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom who should only have acted in the interests of the United Kingdom.
“Negative” is to challenge the political consensus that “nationality” has no natural privileges and once someone steps foot on British soil, or even in the case of some Iraqis meets a British lawyer ,they have full rights to use our courts at our expense and enjoy all the State funded facilities the rest of us pay for.
Not very acceptable at dinner parties in Islington and Notting Hill so they will continue to be just the ConLabLib Party.

Talia

Every time any Labour minister mentions the IHT cut, they say it is for the benefit of “the richest 2,000 estates in the country”. This is absolute rubbish as it would benefit the heirs of anyone with an estate over the current threshold: ie practically all homeowners in the nicer parts of the south-east. And yet no one ever challenges them. Why the hell not?

Dave

Surely the story is that Alastair Campbell ids once more becoming The Story ?

Nicholas

This must be the longest New Labour General Election campaign in history. It began the day Brown took over from Blair.

Every single dirty trick has been employed and by and large the media have fallen for it. I wonder if ordinary people have?

Richard Holloway

I don't understand why Cameron didn't quote Brown's constant idiotic answer about 'personal attacks not policies' back at him. Brown's a complete hypocrite.

The polls are simply showing the hardening of the Labour core vote, which is what they are appealing to. It won't get them a single undecided vote, millions of which still haven't made up their mind.

The final question on the doorstep come polling day will be: Do you want another 4 years of Gordon Brown? I suspect that the answer will be an unequivocal no.

Pete Hoskin

Mr Leatherhead: you're right, but that's why I put "broadly speaking" before introducing them. I think that the Tories should broadly go for ii) but there are times when they can deploy i) and perhaps even iii).

Publius

@Richard Holloway
"The final question on the doorstep come polling day will be: Do you want another 4 years of Gordon Brown? I suspect that the answer will be an unequivocal no."

-- The secret plan. Brown steps down "for health reasons" just before an election. In comes Postman Pat or Mandy as a caretaker.

Yes, there are obvious difficulties with this ploy. But if they feel they have nothing to lose, they might just try it.

strapworld

Seriously I looked at Conservative Home yesterday, after PMQ's, and they were running about like rats just let out of a sack.The great idea of Osborne two conferences ago, Inheritance Tax (which is not just for billionaires but obviously helps them as well) was greeted with great applause by most conservatives and the public, if opinion polls were to be believed, and even Brown and Darling changed their attitude to that tax! But yesterday the comments were quite revealing.

Cameron lost a great deal of public support over his cast iron promise on the EU. Now I accept that a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty was useless once it was ratified, but Cameron could and should have thought of another way in which the British people could show their feelings towards this totalitarian regime. By saying NO denied himself a get out of jail free card.

However, I do believe Sarkozi and the French have given the Blair tribute act an opportunity he cannot let by. An open goal in fact. By their gloating over the EU Finance commissioner's job and the very real threat to the city, Cameron should say that any threat to the City, and suggestion of curtailing our financial institutions will result in Cameron, if elected, calling an immediate IN or OUT referendum. The EU would not want that and the City may be saved. Personally I would want a referendum, but this way Cameron could, possibly, save his face. BUT that would take leadership, and a leader he aint!

Incidentally, Am I the only one to note the similarities between Trevors Den and David DP?

Ian Walker

Ignore it for now. The Labour party's current rail against the "Toffs" is just internal fighting over the post-election leadership.

If the Tories go quiet a lose a few points in the polls, then that's just slack that can be easily regained when the election campaign starts proper. And when you pull in that slack you gain a bit of momentum as well.

S

Somehow I think people will believe in and vote Tory just to get Labour out.

Suprise suprise, nothing will change. And then in 10 years we'll be voting them out. And history will repeat itself, some saved by luck, some destined for fire.

I'm off to dowse myself in meths in advance. Someone flick a swan-vesta at me. You might as well do it now.

Holly ......

Labour will always be Labour.YAY!!
Stuck in the same mindset.They are right,
everyone else is wrong.
And as Brown will insist at pointing out Cameron was educated at Eton.I am also presuming Cameron is not a stalinist.
Brown will be allowed by the Conservatives to continue down this miserable dead end until next year and then they will smash the big stupid clunking moron with some meat to go with his very rounded two veg.
Cameron has done this before, let Labour carry on with the nasty smearing and not a policy in sight,then..and only when the time is right will Cameron, Osborne, Hague & Co will hit Labour with something they NEVER saw coming....common sense policies.
Yes Alistair Campbell may be shining for now, but he is another Labour lying stooge.
The voter knows that.The sexed up dossier/
Dr Kelly/Iraq...all associated with Campbell
Blair/& Co so all in all the Conservatives are playing a blinder.Again.Pity Brown & Co
are too stupid to see.Smart arse gobshites.
The good news is Labour will always revert to form.It is all they know.
SSDD? Absolutely.
For all those who prevaricate on here about DC having no policies, they will in the end be proved to be saddo's.Tough being a troll.
You just wait and see.
A wise man can always act the fool.

THX1138

Richard Holloway But do they want 4 years of Dave The answer is - Sort of,not sure and maybe..

In the run up to the 97 GE Labour were polling in the high 50 percents, Dave struggles to get the Tories over 40% even with Brown possibly the most unpopular PM anyone can remember. I'm a Dave supporter but as the GE gets closer it looks like Dave is increasingly becoming a liability for the Tories.. Campbell is right Dave is weak on "toff" factor and Brit's love a bit of class war.

wrinkled weasel

I think it is possible to miss the bigger picture. Energy and momentum comes from principles which then lead to big ideas. Voters coalesce around big ideas, not recondite tinkerings with things like tax.

The real riposte to Labour's tired spin and lies is a rallying call, something that will capture the imagination people who are fed up with the petty arguments and the studied positioning and the theft from the public purse.

Dave might do well to learn from the BNP. Seriously, they have a big idea. They cannot make it work because they are racist nutters with no resources to take on the system, but the idea is worth exploring, if you consider the public mood and the real threat of Islamofascism and the inevitable confrontation that will occur one day.

We are about to enter a dark age in politics. There are no parties of principle, there are parties of pragmatism. Debate has been shut down, largely due to the tactics of the liberal elite and the ochlocracy that seeks to label ordinary people an "ist" or "phobic" about anything they don't like.

This dark age will consist of weathervane politics, which to mix and match metaphors, is a rudderless ship. Our ranking in the world has slipped significantly in the last decade and will continue to do so. We cannot go back, but we can ask ourselves what made Britain "Great". Sadly, whatever the answer, the politicians of today lack one thing their predecessors had plenty of: courage.

Rhoda Klapp

#Well, you probably know what I am going to say by now, but WTH, if the Spectaor can keep repeating stories, I can keep repeating my one mantra. Five issues. Immigration, multi-culturalism, the EU, AGW and the Afghan 'war'. On each one the public is divided, roughly half and half. In each case tory policy does not differ from Labour in any meaningful way. So what is the point of the tories? If they want my vote they will need to produce something meaningful on those issues, or at least some of them. I don't care where they went to school, or how rich their mates are. It's no good to me to get Brown out but keep his policies.

Keith

As an ordinary voter, I'm with RMH on this one. To voters the point of voting Tory is not merely to get the Tory party elected but to bring about an improvement in the way this country is governed. All I want the Tory party to do is to point out in clear, straightforward terms where they say Labour have gone wrong and how the Tories would put things right. If the voters re-elect Labour then that will show that they are not yet ready for conservatism. If the Tories are fundamentally correct, in the end things will go so wrong that even the British public will start to think that change is necessary.

The Tories still behave as though they are scared of being, or being seen to be, Tories. All too often they give the impression that they differ from New Labour in matters of detail or 'policy' rather than of fundamental substance. I am never quite sure whether this is because they really don't differ greatly from Labour or because they are just too timid to say that they do, although both are (to me) unacceptable.

The basic reason for voting Tory as I see it is that socialism paralyses initiative, corrodes justice and destroys prosperity. Why can't they just say this? If Gordon wants to bang on about 'fairness' and 'the party of the rich' while taxing the economy to destruction then let the voters choose him. They'll learn their lesson in the end and come begging to the Tories for help. And the Tories won't have their hands tied in power by all sorts of idiotic promises they made to get there.

Keith.

Roadrunner

The single biggest boost for the Tories would be a referendum on Europe,the answer would give him some force in his quest to repatriate some powers,the second would be a strict limit on immigration.Then a lot of disgruntled Tory voters would come back but as it is theirs very little difference between him and Brown.

Holly ......

Rhoda Knapp.
If, no sorry, IF, Cameron & the Conservative's policies are the same as Brown & the Labour policies, what is the point of Brown and Labour?
There are lots of dire problems in the country caused by Brown and Labour in general, that give plenty of justification of getting rid of them and backing the Conservatives.....which may I be so bold to pointing out is NOT a one man band like Brown/Labour.
Osborne terrifies Labour hence all the personal attacks,Osborne told us what would happen and he was correct.Cameron will not be getting rid of him and that will terrify the dorks in charge even more...so more attacks to come there.
The Tories do not have to defend their position Labour do.
The Tories do not have to show their hand until next year.
Labour will have to do the same, hence the massive jump in the polls for DC & Co come next February/March.
It will be so close to the General Election Brown will go on a chucking spree to such an extent there will be a run on the mobile phones market.
Just hang fire...there is nothing any of us can do yet....and wait to see the change once the election is called. Ha!
You just watch.
Eton educated that Cameron you know...Clever smart...not dumb arse smart.
BIG DIFFERENCE...

strapworld

well, thanks to the Lib Dems we find YET ANOTHER broken Cameron Promise:-
So, what is the Conservative Party policy on Regional Development Agencies (RDAs)?

Well, here is Iain Dale on the matter in February:

Cameron Reinforces Pledge to Abolish RDA’s & Assemblies
David Cameron has given an interview to BBC South East, to be shown at lunchtime tomorrow in which he pledges to abolish Regional Development Agencies. Good. There had been some speculation that the Tories were wavering on that commitment.

Or here is what Public Servant magazine reported last year of both Cameron and Eric Pickles:

Tory leader David Cameron has confirmed what Public Servant magazine reported in its April issue, that the Conservatives would abolish regional development agencies (RDAs)…

Tory Chairman Erik Pickles said: “RDAs are unaccountable and unelected and they will be abolished".

And then there’s John Redwood:
"Abolish the RDA's" So that’s all clear then?

But wait, what’s this in Shadow Local Government Secretary Caroline Spelman’s speech last month? "Regional Development Agencies will therefore evolve into Local Enterprise Partnerships".

That would not be axing them! but just renaming them. Welcome to Cameleon's New Tory Party. "A promise today is worth nowt tomorrow"

Just WHO is running this show? Cameleon just expected to be shoehorned into number 10!

Gawain

Two comments:

1) We need an industrial/companies/work policy. Read the FT today how manufacturing has fared worse under Labour than under Thatcher. there is nothing that demoralises Labour supporters more than his. If the labour party has spent 12 years failing to rebalance the economy away from "middle class" financial services what is it for. Conservatives are capitalists because it is the economic model that best suits our core beliefs but that doesn't mean we have to accept that the current form of capitalism is perfect. I want to hear from the Conservatives how they would change the current model. We need a vision of what we're working for beyond the cuts in services and taxes.

2. Politics is a verbal contact sport not croquet. If the other side is playing dirty I think a few punches in the scrum when the ref isn't looking would be understandable. What else is Andy Coulsen earning his huge salary for. Mandelson is dus another scandal and Campbell was up to his armpits in the Iraq debacle, oh, and Brown is Scottish.

Verity

Strapworld writes: "Incidentally, Am I the only one to note the similarities between Trevors Den and David DP?"

No. You're not alone.

Wrinkled Weasel makes a good point. There is nothing - no big idea - to rally round in the Tory party. It is all tinkering with old ideas. Tony Blair came powering in with the idea that he had completely revolutionised the Labour Party. New Labour!

Dave offers nothing but weak, obsessive tinkering. Which tells us, incidentally, that he is a controlling individual who wants to be in total control of everything within the party.

paul holdstock

the tory spin doctors have failed to spot the glaring 'open goal' browns' banging on about the IHT threshold being raised to a million£.
that is that if this is done, ONLY millionaires will have to pay it, whereas labours' policy, is that almost EVERYONE should have their estates taxed.
so it can reasonably be said that the toties only want to hurt millionaires, whereas labour want to hurt everyone.
class envy/warfare is a strange phenomena.
hardly a basis for an election campaign.
and as far as any promises made by labour are concerned, after they broke their manifesto commitments on the eu treaty,
no-one should/could ever believe another word they say.

TrevorsDen

I do not want the Tory party revolutionised thank you.

What big ideas did Blair have - huh? None, any little glimmers got stamped on by Brown. Tonys big idea was to think Brown was clever.

Just choose a new record Verity (et al) you're boring.

Who is Dave DP?

Glad to see your obsessing about somebody else anyway Verity - why not obsess about Lord Pearsons expenses.

General Zod

Something strange has happened. I agreed with almost every word of strapworld's post above.

Sarkozy has handed Cameron a gift that he should grab with both hands: a good excuse to talk tough about the EU.

strapworld

Thank you General Zod, I will sleep well tonight. But, you and I know Cameleon will not listen. He will carry on regardless.

Did you know that Cameleon sent a voicemail congratulating that former CND woman, Mrs Kellner, on her elevation to EU Foreign Minister! The man certainly listens to no one in the Tory party. He is a complete empty vessel.

I think the Speaker's wife, in an interview with the London Evening Standard, who was in PR herself, states that Cameron is just an empty PR man.

When will people realise the man is a disaster?

General Zod

The congratulations were just protocol. You have to be polite to people you despise all the time in politics and business.

Holly ......

'Tony Blair came powering in with the idea that he had completely revolutionised the Labour party-New Labour'.
David Cameron has not completely revolutionised the Tory party and that is what is bugging Labour trolls.
Tony Blair lied his way to power along with Mr Clunk and between them got rid of Britain as we knew it....So
Should we really be wanting the same tact from Cameron?
Do we really want another lying creep?
'Dave offers nothing but weak,obsessive tinkering'.
As an antidote to Gordon's strong,obsessive
messing up big style.
'A controlling individual who wants to take total control of everything in the party'.
Who is doing a sterling job of forcing Labour to come out with unworkable, stupid,childish policies/ideas, like the checking of parents who wish to watch THEIR children in the school nativity.
Yes Cameron is controlling everything within the party and the gobshites on the Labour front bench are going into overdrive because DC is clever smart, not dumb arse smart.
Brown will throw around loads of money and with the help of Balls loads of silly stuff, then, as usual, when someone a bit brighter points out the vote losing flaw,
Brown will do his usual u-turn, look even more inept than he is.
Meanwhile back in reallity DC has had to do nothing.
Clever smart beats dumb arse dim wit every time.
When the trolls discover that they are still losing in the polls they will try a few more shots at Osborne.

Hysteria

what HJ said - and a few others as well but I really can't be bothered to scroll up and down to figure out the best bits

does anyone know of a model blog forum that we can actually point the Spectator guys to???

2trueblue

The choice fasing the tories is whether to let Brown have their ideas or let them make up their own.
Labour were a one trick pony and they are spent, and have spent everything in the kitty. The real problem is whether or not to enter into guter politics or go and do your best, bide your time and wait for your moment. The end of this year and early next year the world will have a few more pictures and they will not be pretty. Labour can try all the dirty tricks they like but we have seen what they can do and have no wish to have them in any longer. I was wavering some months back but now I think I am in it for the long haul and will stick with the tories.