James Forsyth James Forsyth

What ‘big’ thing should Cameron do?

Steve Richards’ column this morning is thought-provoking. Here’s the central plank of his argument:

“In some ways there are parallels for Cameron in the dilemmas Neil Kinnock faced during the miners’ strike under Margaret Thatcher in the mid 1980s. Kinnock was torn as to what to do. He instinctively sympathised with the miners, but disapproved of the leadership and strategy of Arthur Scargill. He was scathing about what he saw as Thatcher’s ruthless brutality and yet appreciated some of the arguments she was deploying. He wanted to say more, but knew that his party was largely in favour of the strike and felt constrained. Later he was to reflect that his evasive approach was his biggest mistake as leader. Here was an epoch making event and he should have come up with a clearer narrative. Over the last few weeks Cameron has struggled to come up with a clear line over this crisis.

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