On Saturday, James asked CoffeeHousers to suggest how David Davis can keep his campaign in the news. He’s doing alright so far – most of the major Monday columnists have penned Davis-themed articles this morning. But I have a sneaking suspicion that it will be Government blunders which ultimately keep the former shadow home secretary in the headlines.
Take today’s papers, for instance. What news on the Home Secretary? Well, she’s been summoned before the Commons Home Affairs Committee to explain not one – but two – embarrassing document-loss scandals that have come to light during the past week.
These appearances – and any similar blunders in future – can only lend Davis’ message extra piquancy. Why should we trust the government on 42-day detention, on ID cards and on CCTV surveillance when the Home Office finds it so difficult to keep its own house in order? It’s a question that even supporters of those schemes could find themselves asking – thereby broadening Davis’ coalition. As Trevor Kavanagh writes in The Sun today:
“Most Sun readers will instinctively support 42 days’ detention without trial for terror suspects if it helps prevent an atrocity on the streets of Britain.
They would accept ID cards as a sensible way of co-ordinating swathes of information already in the public domain if it made life easier as well as more secure.
CCTV cameras can undoubtedly be a force for good and DNA data banks have put killers and rapists in jail who would otherwise have escaped justice.
But along with many Sun readers, I don’t trust this Government, the police or the State bureaucracy to discriminate between keeping an eye out for our well-being and spying on us…
…If we can’t trust Whitehall’s most senior intelligence official with top-secret data on al-Qaeda, why should we expect unqualified, unsupervised junior clerks to act with discretion?
If the State can “lose” 25million computer files loaded with personal information on welfare claimants, why should we trust a new multi-billion-pound NHS computer with our medical notes?”
For Davis’ campaign, those who think as Kavanagh does are the equivalent of floating voters. The more blunders the Government makes, the easier it will be for Davis to win the battle for their hearts and minds.
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