Politics

Wednesday, 21st January 2009

Fraser Nelson discusses the week in politics

Now and again, it is asked why politicians can achieve so little with the power they acquire. The answer is that reform is a bloody task, which requires an attention span longer than most politicians can manage. The Whitehall system doesn’t need to defeat reforming ministers, just to outlast them. Yet Mr Cameron will and should be judged by how radical he is. He will either be a reformer or a failure: the status quo he will inherit will be that of a near-bankrupt country with at least six million on out-of-work benefits and rampant state-spending unsupported by what he is likely to be able to raise in tax.

It has taken this Labour government longer to wreck the economy than previous ones, but they have done so comprehensively. That is why Mr Cameron’s task should be nothing less than the transformation of British government — not so much running the country, but saving it. This is a far bigger task than simply beating a failed Prime Minister, and this is why he needs his shadow cabinet to focus on the radical restructuring of government. For all the ups and downs he has experienced since becoming leader, Mr Cameron will find that his real battle starts after election day.

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Denis Cooper

January 22nd, 2009 2:24pm Report this comment

Basically Clarke is now one promotion, and one general election, away from becoming Chancellor of the Exchequer.

When he could discover that the economy was still in such a terrible state that the only way to stabilise it would be to join the euro.

And to do that as a matter of utmost urgency, persuading the leaders of other EU countries that the ERM II rules could be bent.

And without any nonsense about holding a referendum, whatever may have been promised in the Tory manifesto.

With the economy in a critical state there simply wouldn't be the time to waste on a referendum; and in any case referendums undermine Parliament, don't they?

As we know, manifestos aren't legally binding; and as we have seen, even a major manifesto promise can simply be disregarded by the government, provided they can get a majority of MPs to walk through the right lobby.

Some Tory MPs would object strenuously, and try to force a referendum; but Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs could probably ensure that they were outvoted.

There might be a major revolt by ordinary Tory members, but that would achieve nothing as there would be no way to remove the pro-euro, anti-referendum MPs until the next general election, when it would be too late.

The Tory party might even disintegrate, and be wiped out at that election, but so what? That would be seen as relatively minor - maybe even desirable - collateral damage.

It's a narrow, tricky, path for Clarke and his allies to tread, but by no means impassable, and he's now a lot further along it than he was a week ago.

Some anti-euro Tories may believe that they can use Clarke as "a tool", but no doubt he sees it as being the other way round, and he may well be proved right on that.

John Girling

January 22nd, 2009 5:06pm Report this comment

So, the affable Mr Clarke is showing himself as a traitor both to his party and to his country, and would have us become an appendage of the evil European Union.

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