Trying to work out what David Cameron really thinks, I had a strange sense of déjà vu

16 February 2008

Nick Robinson reviews the week in politics

Take just one example — Europe. It’s one thing to instruct your party to stop ‘obsessing’ about the issue. It’s quite another to decide whether to betray your activists who believe you are committed to renegotiating Britain’s relationship with the EU or to pick a long, lonely and, potentially, futile fight with the European leaders you’ve fought so hard to join.

Put this or other choices on tax or climate change or social justice or social responsibility to a member of Team Cameron and they soon reply, ‘Ah, but he is a pragmatist.’ In this sense he is not a moderniser but a traditionalist harking back to the days not just before Thatcher but before Heath and ‘Selsdon Man’. Douglas Hurd, Cameron’s predecessor as MP for Witney, says, with some proprietorial pride, that he is a young man who is learning on the job. Rest assured that between now and the next election Gordon Brown will work hard to flush out the answers that I failed to get.

While making this programme I’ve had an uneasy feeling of déjà vu. Fourteen years ago I struggled to pin down what another young opposition leader really thought. People said he didn’t believe very much at all. Pinning down Tony Blair proved so tricky in 1994 that Panorama scrapped its planned profile. It’s a mistake I vowed not to repeat.

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bill

February 14th, 2008 12:59pm Report this comment

As a long standing Tory voter I had decided I did not like Cameron's views well before the last election. Two more images to consider: riding his bike to work (I cannot recall if his car is behind but it does not matter). The other is his motioning his fellow Tory MPs to give Blair a standing ovation. And he expects us to vote for him?

Bob Tomlin

February 15th, 2008 4:22pm Report this comment

Excellent question. No one has any idea what this Chinless Charlie and his party thinks anymore.
They have expressed no coherent policy or direction. Until one of the political parties shows leadership and rallies the populace Britain will continue it's slide into corruption and decay. Democracy is dead in the UK and the EU,

Robert H. Boyer

February 15th, 2008 4:24pm Report this comment

Don't you know that it isn't about subustance it is abou CHANGE. You must pay more attention to the US politicians. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are preaching the sacred docrine of Change. I doubt not that John McCain will soon be beating the same drum.

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