The Tory situation is now verging on critical

Ian E

One small phrase, Messrs Cameron and Osborne. EU in/out referendum.

ROJ

Ian E is quite right, but one does not have to be pro or anti EU to agree that the Tory decline from double to single digit poll lead dates from the ratification of the Lisbon treaty. Cameron had promised a referendum. 65% of the public wanted a referendum. Of course Cameron was correct in saying that we could not vote on the Lisbon treaty after it had become law. But to the wider public, those who are not politics wonks, it looked as though Cameron was just another politician reneging on a promise. If the Tory manifesto were to include a proposal for any kind of referendum on the UK relationship with the EU - perhaps related to the declared intention to "bring back powers" - then the double digit lead would be restored, and there would be clear water between Tories and not just Labour, but also LibDems.

And on policies in general - at the candidate selection meeting that I recently attended, only two of the six candidates seemed to know much about Tory policies, so it's not surprising that the public don't know much.

Ken

They don't want to win it and who can blame them?
Let the Brown dog and his diarrhoea return for the IMF to rub his nose in the putrid mess.
With Labour duly annihilated the Conservatives can try and win the subsequent election.

Ian E

Ken says 'They don't want to win it and who can blame them?'

This theory seems to be gaining traction and there is clearly some logic to the idea of letting NuLab stew in their own juices.

I would, however, love to believe that the tories care a bit more for the country than this would imply. Also, I doubt that Cameron and Osborne could survive such a failure as leading Tories so I am dubious!

Roadrunner

ROJ and IAN E are correct a lot of people were counting on Cameron after Brown's scam on Lisbon and he let them down and lost their trust,We all know what giving 5 years to see what can be changed means,more of the failed changing Europe from within policy.Now a lot of people are not voting at all or voting UKIP,as I myself shall do and before the diehards start screaming it's a vote for Brown it's not it's a vote for something I believe in.That we would be better off out of Europe.So come on DC you are said to admire Churchill do something Churchillian and start cutting the deficit by getting us out of this federalist nightmare.

JONNY

Sorry but
it is simply not credible that 'they don't want to win it'.
It's just that they're making a manumental hash of it.
For Godsake it's so obvious.
Turn the bloody fire on Brown and Labour and blast them.

Quietzapple

Apart from the cockups and the duplicitous nature of the Chameleon - (Osbourne as jnr member) project as the EU Referendum folk aver, Labour was always in the back of people's minds as their preference, however dubious they became:

http://quietzapple-musing.blogspot.com/2009/08/labour-44-or-conservative-42.html

Natasha

It's quite simple really - the Tories are losing the intellectual argument about the timing of steps to reduce the deficit. A lot of floating voters sense intuitively that the economy remains fragile and that premature spending cuts could undermine the recovery. This translates into a fear of unemployment for many people. When fear becomes a major factor in voters' thinking, all bets are off (c.f. 1992).

Boudicca

It's the EU. It was one thing for Cameron to announce that he would not hold a Referendum on the Lisbon ConTreaty because it had been ratified .... it was quite something else for him to announce that there would be no Referendum on the EU at all BECAUSE HE BELIEVES WE BELONG IN THE EU.

It should not be up to Cameron (or anyone else) to decide on matters of sovereignty. It should be up to the electorate. Cameron should have announced a non-binding Referendum during his first term in office on our relationship with the EU in order to guage public opinion.
a) stay in as things are
b) renegotiate if we can
c) get out

We have not been consulted at all since we were sold the idea of the EEC on a lie.
When the electorate has spoken, Cameron should enter into discussions with the EU and form a policy for his second term in office - one that favours the majority view or, if he doesn't agree, he should try and sell an alternative policy.

If the electorate vote to get out of the EU, then that is what we should do. Our Government is there to serve us - not to dictate.

Robert Upfold

David Cameron has been wise in his handling of the European question.

A strong Eurosceptic position on one hand or a Europhile bias on the other would induce a split within the Conservatives and although Labour is also straddling the ame fault line it has the advantage of being in power to reward 'loyalty' and to punish dissent.

Frankly, David Cameron has done a magnificent job in the teeth of an intensely perverse campaign of character assassination which has drawn the fire from the villains who have wrecked the economy with the support of the self-serving client state.

It is madness to accede to the possibility of continuance of the Mandelson-Brown duumvirate, after the equally terrible Blair-Brown hegemony.

It is also grossly indecent to question Cameron's suitability in view of the facts of Brown's shockingly bad character which is bringing Britain into international disrepute.

A Cameron premiership will make a positive contribution to the long process of restoring Britain's image and to restoring the trust of our creditors.

SOLACD

Grumpy Optimist

I am afraid that Europe is a red herring and to campaign strongly on that would be a loser for the Tories right nowe. My take on this is that the voters are terrified of the word radical - as spoken by Cameron. They have no idea what it means, but do know that maybe it is no time to rock the boat.

Having said that, a new Labour term would be catastrophic for the UK I know (or thought I knew). My guess is that many labour leaders are terrified of that prospect - until now never believing it possible.

On a different note, the fact that so many voters clearly do not see that Cameron (for all his vacillation etc.) would be an infinitely preferable choice makes me despair. The country is not what I thought it was. Maybe this will be the most baleful legacy of Nulabour. To turn the UK into a parody of a free and responsible nation - and instead only looking to the state and others both to blame and to look after them. Or maybe it is that for a nation to take responsible for their actions is somehow not PC. It causes offence to suggest that we are responsible and anyone who suggests otherwise needs to be seen by the Equalities commission.