Simon Danczuk

Has anyone noticed Tory tanks rolling onto Labour’s lawn?

It’s unfashionable to talk about the battle for the centre ground these days. The fight to win political credibility is conducted through a new prism. Populists versus the establishment, centralisers versus decentralisers, radicals versus those in favour of shrinking the offer. But the fundamentals remain the same, and much of the hard-fought credibility that Tony Blair and Gordon Brown earned during Labour’s three General Election victories is now the target of sustained Tory fire. And my worry is that Labour’s not taking it seriously enough.

The last Tory Government used to speak in strident, right wing terms. ‘Unemployment is a price worth paying’, ‘the homeless are what you step over when you come out of the opera’ are some of the most memorable examples. So when Michael Gove calls the Conservatives ‘the party of social justice’, Grant Shapps attempts to rebrand the Tories as the ‘workers’ party’ and George Osborne champions the national minimum wage and full employment, this is a deliberate attempt to steal Labour’s clothes.

It’s easy – and right – to ridicule Grant Shapps’ patronising Bingo and beer nonsense. But this strategy, clumsy as it is at times, will eventually make inroads if it’s not smartly challenged. The sight of Tory tanks rumbling towards Labour’s turf is often derided as some sort of bad Dad’s Army joke, but they’re getting closer to parking on Labour’s lawn. And remember, even that most ridiculous of tank drivers, Oddball from Kelly’s Heroes, eventually made it beyond enemy lines.

It’s in this context that Tory manoeuvring should be seen. Osborne and Gove are challenging on issues that are home territory for Labour. They also have some policies to back up their posturing. The minimum wage rise combined with a tax cut for low earners demonstrate a tangible offer for many voters who would not normally consider voting Conservative.

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