Bruce Anderson has some straightforward, but crucial, advice for the Tories in his Indy column today:
“Needless to say, [providing an analysis of the downturn] is not enough. It never is, in politics. The Tories must also come up with some catchy ‘phrases: their equivalent of “boom and bust”. William Hague has made a start. “Gordon Brown promised to abolish boom and bust. He has kept half his promise.’ Having invented the phrases, it is vital to go on repeating them. Often, it is only when the politicians are sick of repeating themselves that the voters at last begin to notice.”
In October last year, I said that the Tories needed to be “blunter” – meaning that they needed to cut the waffle, and come up with some catchy phrases to counter those which Brown repeats ad nauseam. Sure, the polls have continued to swing in the Tories’ direction since then – and their economic message has become more coherent and refined – but you still feel that they’re lacking on this front.
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