Labour spikes its own guns

Stephan Shakespeare had a smart post up on Centre Right over the weekend, arguing that Labour were weapons-testing the class issue in Crewe. But it seems that Labour’s clumsy-premature use of the issue has actually forced them to remove it from their general election arsenal.Today’s Standard reports that 

This is good news for the Conservatives. David Cameron and George Osborne’s respective decisions to join the Bullingdon are a—potential—election weakness. But Labour by having played the class card so early and so crudely has made it far less effective should they choose to use it in future. It will, if Labour loses Crewe, be viewed as a failed tactic and so if Labour use it in the general it will be seen by the media as a sign that they are panicking and expecting to go down to a heavy defeat.

Labour’s mistake was to attack Timpson for who he was, not his own actions. This meant that their attacks came over as pure prejudice, which is what they are.