It seems that as part of the Cameroon mid-course correction, they’ll no longer be talking about being the heir to Blair. I think this is a big mistake, but I accept that I’m probably the only person outside W11 to believe this.
Gordon Brown will ruthlessly demagogue any Tory plan for public service reform as really a scheme to privatise /disband / eviscerate the NHS/ state schools / the welfare state (delete as appropriate), the heir to Blair rhetoric provided crucial insulation against these charges and mitigated against the fact that the electorate still don’t really trust the Tories on these issues. It also put the ball firmly back in Brown’s court; challenging him to prove that he wasn’t the ‘roadblock to reform’ etc.
Critics argued that the phrase prevented the Tories from being radical. That’s not really accurate, though. The recent George Osborne speech which majored on the idea was also one of, if not the most, radical speeches of Cameron’s leadership.
Dumping the phrase might win the leadership some breathing space with the grassroots but I suspect they’ll come to regret discarding this protective padding come the general election campaign.
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