Mandelson contra Cameron

So far as the Tories are concerned, Peter Mandelson is the political equivalent of an itch that you can’t scratch: irritating, elusive and impossible to ignore.  And he’s at it again today, with an article in the Independent on Sunday chiding the Tories’ over their Big Society agenda.  

It’s not the “agenda of abandoment” attack that Mandelson made a few days ago.  But, rather, a return to the “cross-dressing” territory of last year.  As Mandelson puts it, “[Cameron’s] tightly knit group of associates has simply pinched a few ideas from our campaign manual, rather than fundamentally reforming the party to make it fit for office.”  And he even tries to locate this point in the make-up of Cameron’s top team:

“On the one hand, there is Steve Hilton, the thoughtful strategist behind Mr Cameron’s more “touchy-feely” moments and an admirer of New Labour. On the other, there is Andy Coulson, a former News of the World editor, who sees no reason to veer from gut Thatcherite instincts.”

Cameron’s response to Mandelson comes in the Observer, with a persuasive article on – guess what – the Big Society.  But I suspect both men are really pitching to the folk who have been swept up by the Clegg surge.  With the Lib Dems riding high in the polls, there is a greater burden on Cameron to both present and explain the Tories’ positive prospectus.  And Mandelson will look to sabotage that process by claiming it’s Labour policy but without the conviction. 

Whatever, it’s funny to think that their chief play, now, is for those gravitating towards the yellow corner.