Politics

21 February 2009

James Forsyth reviews the week in politics

But elsewhere policy is either underdeveloped or needs adjusting for the new realities. For example, can the party fulfil its pledge to stop the early release of prisoners given the huge capital costs of building new prisons and the fact that crime usually rises during recessions? On the NHS, is it really practical to promise to add to £90 billion-plus of public spending when the next government might have to cut as much as £100 billion from the government spending total of £623 billion?

Encouragingly, the leadership seems aware of the areas where policy and personnel need beefing up. The recruitment of David Freud to the Tory side to implement welfare reform was one such recognition. The foreign policy team might be the next to receive some additions.

The way in which the Tories launch themselves in office is even more important than it would normally be for an incoming government, because they won’t have a Blair- or Obama-style honeymoon. The Cameroons will be forming a government in dire circumstances: official statistics indicate that unemployment will peak at 3.5 million about six months into a Tory government, a challenge not even Margaret Thatcher had to confront. To earn the time they’ll need to turn the situation around they must make a very competent start. They cannot afford any of the usual Tory cock-ups.

As well as preparing for government, Cameron must prepare the country for his premiership. Transformative leaders — and this is what circumstances dictate Cameron must be — show their countries where they are leading them. Cameron must bring together the Tory’s policies on the economy, schools, energy and localism and craft them into something larger than the sum of their parts. His message must have the same kind of clear vision that Reagan’s and Thatcher’s had. This is no time for a gradualist.

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Ray

February 19th, 2009 9:44am Report this comment

On both the economy and the broken society, Cameron absolutely has to tell it like it is and be bold in administering the required cure.

The only consolation amidst such pain is that he will hopefully seize every opportunity to remind the electors precisely which party has got us into this mess in the first place.

NorthernJohn

February 19th, 2009 12:38pm Report this comment

John Redwood for Head of the OBR.

Any other suggestions?

martin

February 20th, 2009 12:26am Report this comment

This nulabor government is corrupt. The nulabor corruption is absolute, lead from the top down, imposed through all tiers of social and government control, down to street level. Being rotten to the core and from the core, everything it touches it taints. Having neither the ability nor inclination to correct itself, outside intervention is indicated.

Mark Solomon

February 20th, 2009 12:42am Report this comment

Perhaps the silver lining in the cloud is that with the necessity for spending cuts, perhaps the obscenity of the UK welfare/benefits system will be tackled - this will have the double benefit of helping economically and also dealing with much of the Broken Society agenda, given that it is the welfare system that has encouraged this behaviour. Hopefully the urgency of the economic situation will give the once in a lifetime political cover necessary to tackle this most sacred of sacred cows. Given that the bleating will be loud whatever is done but that Labour will be reeling from defeat, rapid radical steps here are necessary before inertia sets in.

Otherwise the country really is doomed.

Is it too much to hope too that the importance of the economic disaster will also enable frivolous nonsense like the climate change agenda to be quietly thrown under the (diesel-powered) bus?

Colin Wilkinson

February 20th, 2009 1:25pm Report this comment

Five key points for David Cameron
1, Scrap our commitment to the Lisbon Treaty.
2,Reduce number of MP's and massively cut generous rewards.
3,Initiate an investigate into the Iraq debacle and hand over the findings to the DPP.
4. Make the country live within its means no matter how painful.
5. Construct a fully elected second chamber and remove the term Lord from its members.

A second term in office would follow

Donna

May 4th, 2009 10:36am Report this comment

I can very easily see the new Tory govt not rising to this - admittedly gargantuan - challenge due precisely to the fact that the leadership is so softly softly. If that happens, I fear we're in for a decade of bouncing between one term governments until someone comes along with enough vision and force of personality to do what's really needed.

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