Are the Tories really lurching to the right?
10:45am
Ever since John Redwood’s proposals first began to be floated, the Tories have been accused of lurching to the right. On the Today Programme this morning, Alistair Darling predictably accused the Tories of planning 21 billion pounds worth of spending cuts. While in The Independent today, Colin Brown writes that:
“The more Shadow Chancellor George Osborne protested yesterday that the Redwood working party's conclusions did not represent a "lurch to the right", the more it sounded like that is just what is about to happen.But crucially, Cameron appointed Redwood to this job in December 2005. So if this is a so-called lurch to the right it is one that has been planned right from the beginning of Cameron’s leadership.Mr Cameron's appointment of Mr Redwood to chair the commission on economic competitiveness was revealing. He must have known Mr Redwood, a committed Thatcherite, would propose a radical tax cutting package.”
Now, it is fair to say that the Tories hoped that they’d start talking about these core issues from a position of strength--not weakness--in the polls. But the appointment of Redwood to chair this group right at the beginning of his leadership, shows that Cameron always intended to offer some meaty policies on deregulation, corporation tax and the like.
Previous
Tiberius
August 17th, 2007 12:24pm Report this commentThis issue may well be the test of whether Cameron has neutralized the anti-Tory reflex in those who have voted Labour in the last three elections, and who now claim they want change. We have always known Labour and much of the media would scream "lurch to the Right" whenever Cameron produced something requiring rigorous thinking, but it is now ordinary people's turn to decide whether they can take the trouble to judge the Tories by what they say, rather than what others say they say.
Anon
August 17th, 2007 12:24pm Report this commentCome on bringing back the Vukcan is a sign of panic. What next Cameron signing up to Better off out?
Tom
August 17th, 2007 12:36pm Report this commentI think it is interesting and impressive that the Labour party have, after 10 years of campaigning on the subject, made "right" a dirty word. It is akin to the situation in America wherein being described as "liberal" is the deathknell for any aspiring politician.
David
August 17th, 2007 12:58pm Report this comment"Come on bringing back the Vukcan is a sign of panic" Presumably you failed to read the bit that said he was appointed in 2005? I say failed to read, but perhaps the literacy rate amongst Labour trolls isn't very high, so unable to read may have been better.....
jimmy
August 20th, 2007 2:42pm Report this commentHow about this approach: Conservative spokesmen should say loud and clear, and in this very language: "yes, we have lurched to the right. By which I mean this: the Conservative party is and always will be a party of the centre-right. We believe in empowering people, families and communities. Our vision is that we can do this by freeing them up to do more of what they want and need to do. An important part of this is reducing regulation on small businesses, and reforming the tax system so that people who need to keep more of the money they have earned, can do so." If the BBC and Labour are free always to associate the word "right" with uncaring, unlovely, poverty-of-ambition imagery then we'll always get the kind of puerile name-calling that so offends against intelligent debate.
Back to top