Politics Archives

Thursday

4 Oct 2007

The lazy party

I must have been watching some other conference. Judging by the general view taken of David Cameron’s speech to the Tory conference yesterday this was a masterly exercise in understated urbanity. What I heard instead was a rambling and diffuse statement of aims, conspicuous only in its failure to communicate energy and ambition. Of course it’s true that post-Blair we’ve become suspicious of false messiahs and glib oratory. Nowadays we shudder at those creepy millenarian visions the former prime minister used to dish out when addressing Labour conferences. But a political leader seeking to take his party into government after long years in opposition needs star qualities of drive rather

James Forsyth

Brown rage

Martin Bright sheds light on what Brown’s inner circle are thinking about an early election in this week’s New Statesman. What stands out, though, is how thin-skinned they are. Danny Finkelstein’s story about the influence of Bob Shrum on his conference speech has clearly got under their skin. One aide tells Bright that, “The behaviour of the Tories and some sections of the media shows they are already electioneering. Why should Gordon put up with another six months of this when he can’t fight back?” Also note how Camilla Cavendish reveals in The Times this morning that, “The Prime Minister’s penchant for calling certain journalists in the early hours of

James Forsyth

Will Gordon go?

There are two schools of thought on whether the chances of an early election have increased or receded since last week. On the one hand, the Tory conference was a success and Labour’s polling in its key marginals is “patchy and extremely tight”, according to The Independent; suggesting that Gordon Brown should hold off. On the other hand, as Matt argued on the Today Programme when he moved his election clock two minutes closer to midnight, if Brown doesn’t go now it will look like Cameron has scared him off. Realistically, Brown is unlikley to lose any early election. But he could easily see Labour’s majority reduced and with it his

Wednesday

3 Oct 2007

Alex Massie

Prime Minister Cameron?

David Cameron has just given a remarkable speech to the Tory party conference in Blackpool. A week ago it looked as though the Tories were done and Project Cameron an embarrassing fiasco. Now, after a successful conference, Cameron may have wrong-footed Labour himself. In other words, these remain febrile times. Cameron’s task was to demonstrate that he had the ability to rise above party, persuading his television audience (and the doubters in his own party) that he has it in him to be Prime Minister. My sense was that he succeeded and that he did so in part because of the bold, even fresh, approach he took. This was not

Alex Massie

Not even kissing cousins anymore…

One other thing about David Cameron’s speech: there was quite a lot in it that mainstream Democrats in the United States would have had little problem endorsing – the environment, the anxiety many people feel about a fast-changing world, the breaking of the military covenant etc etc. Then again, the Tories have little desire to be associated with the current Republican party. You can tell how enamoured the Tories are with the GOP by the Republicans who have been in Blackpool this week. Arnold Schwarzenegger was supposed to give a keynote address (he pulled out at the last minute) but Mike Bloomberg was present and given a prominent speaking position

James Forsyth

What Cameron achieved

A few hours on from the end of conference and the new political landscape is becoming clearer. David Cameron has succeeded in uniting the Conservative party and the right more broadly behind him. The policies announced in Blackpool mean that Conservatives of all stripes now have positive reasons to want a Tory government. The leadership has also succeeded in distilling the work of the policy groups without anyone’s toys disappearing out of the pram. The more challenging bit comes now: they have to win over the country. As Tim notes, the news segments on the speech have been positive but watching them it is hard to feel that the case

Stuart Reid

Did I watch the same speech?

What planet am I from? What have I been smoking? Matt and Fraser understand politics far better than I can ever hope to, but after reading their blogs I can scarcely believe we all witnessed the same event this afternoon. What I saw was a car crash, or at any rate an accident in a school playground. On Monday, with George Osborne’s pledge on inheritance tax, the Tories had the metropolitan Guardian vote more or less in the bag, and for 24 hours they looked like possible winners. Today they look like losers again. David Cameron’s speech was a feat of memory but of nothing else. It was the same

Fraser Nelson

The Labour spin on the speech

Hilariously, Labour is briefing that Gordon Brown did not watch Cameron’s speech. I suspect they wouldn’t be saying that if Dave had bombed. The more people I speak to, the greater the reception seems to be. George Osborne was joking that he should photograph and frame yesterday’s papers, the best he’d see in a while. Tomorrow’s may be just as good for Cameron. PS Cameron now sitting a few seats down from me on the train in goat class. Letwin in first. Correction: Though Letwin told me he was going to First (“It is a business trip”) he ended up sitting behind Cameron when the leader took his place in

Matthew Dancona

Cameron passes the test

Bookended by the soothing techno of Moby and a (perhaps unintended) reference to Jimmy Cliff’s “You Can Get It If You Really Want It”, David Cameron today gave a speech that – if nothing else – stretched the boundaries of virtuosity in political performance. To speak with grace and confidence, for more than an hour, with only a few notes was an astonishing feat of memory and endurance. This, of course, is an important part of the Tories’ election message, starting today. They want to present Dave as gutsy and up for it, in contrast to Gordon the Ditherer, Bottler Brown. The final passage of the speech was as close to

James Forsyth

How did Cam do?

My initial reaction is that it was good but not a home run. The ending was very strong but there was a bit towards the end when it ran out of steam a little bit. If I was Gordon, I’d be feeling a lot less confident of increasing Tony Blair’s majority in an election this year. The question is, has Brown put his neck out too far to pull back now?

Fraser Nelson

Cameron’s speech

2:15pm Cameron comes out to a rapturous reception. He tells the audience this might be a messy as he’s got no autocue, Cameron unspun. Fraser emails in: I notice all the shadow cabinet on stage. This is part of their strategy to show the Tories are a team, where Labour is a one man Brown band. Cameron announces to us that he has no notes “so it might be a bit messy but it will be me”. Subtext ‘unlike that control freak brown, imagine him doing this eh?’ And I love the reference to Thatcher’s long march to freedom, a reference to the Nelson Mandela biography of the same name.

The Spectator

Coffee House on your phone

If you want to follow Coffee House’s coverage of and reaction to David Cameron’s speech on your mobile phone just text SPECTATOR to 88010 *Normal operator data charges apply.

Fraser Nelson

Dare Cameron do it without notes?

Word is that Cameron will attempt the speech of his life without notes or autocue. Critics said his 2005 noteless speech was no better than many stage actors could do – but that was a short one. This will be an hour long. Dare he? We’ll see soon enough…. PS: His aides say he will be carrying cards, to jog his memory if needed. But otherwise, flying solo. An incredibly, almost recklessly bold move.

James Forsyth

Tax and the Tories

You wait ages for a Tory tax pledge then a whole slew come along at once. Following his speech on Monday which pledged to raise the threshold for inheritance tax and cut stamp tax for first time buyers, George Osborne has given an interview to The Times announcing that there are both personal and corporate tax cuts to come, all of which will be funded by green tax rises. Now, the Evening Standard is going big on the story that spouses will be able to transfer over any unused portion of their personal allowances—potentially saving families £1,000 a year. There does, though, seem to be some confusion about whether this

George Osborne

Waiting for Dave

Waiting for David Cameron’s speech, which is going to be a great end to a great conference. General buzz here amongst those who were at Labour’s Conference last week is that contrast has been striking: their Conference was all very hollow, lots of election speculation covering up the lack of no real substance; while ours has been full of new, exciting ideas. The Party has been really united and determined. We are up for the fight! On my brief there’s a story that is quite interesting – which the Mail and Guardian covered this morning. It concerns Labour’s misleading use of Treasury figures to attack our tax proposals. Yesterday lunchtime I

Fraser Nelson

Speech Countdown

Samantha Cameron has risen even further in my estimation by declining to spend the week in Blackpool. She showed up on Sunday, to provide the main photo-shoot, then worked Monday and Tuesday in London arriving late last night and turning up at Les Hinton’s packed reception. Her husband, as far as I can work out, hasn’t attended one reception. There was a late rewrite of a major section of his speech last night, and an exhausted Danny Kruger (main speechwriter) turned up for breakfast as I was leaving at 10am looking like he hadn’t been to bed. Mind you, I look that way too and I slept a whole five

James Forsyth

Back to the future | 3 October 2007

Today’s speech really is as important as the hype says it is. If David Cameron delivers a barnstormer and Gordon Brown pulls out of calling an election it will be a major coup for Cameron, giving him a level of personal authority as leader that he hasn’t had to date. Equally if Brown does go for it, this speech will frame whether the election is seen as a foregone conclusion or a genuine contest. There is, though, another way in which the speech is important. If there is an election before the end of the year, Labour would almost certainly win it. The question then is, as Adam Boulton points

Matthew Dancona

Will Gordon ask the Commons before heading to the Palace?

Peter Ridell makes an excellent point in The Times today. Three months ago, in a Green Paper Gordon proposed a new convention that the PM should be ‘required to seek the approval of the House of Commons before asking the monarch for a dissolution.’ So: if he goes for an election announcement next week, will he honour the principle behind his own proposal and ask MPs first?

Tuesday

2 Oct 2007

Alex Massie

Hold the Front Page: Morals Uncorrupted by Sensible, Liberal Policy

Credit where credit’s due, Labour’s attitude towards gambling has been vastly more sensible than one had any right to expect. The Economist reports: New laws which came into force in Britain at the beginning of September allow the creation of licensed internet casinos where people can gamble on games such as poker and blackjack. Until now, gamblers could try their luck at them only on servers located offshore. The change is aimed squarely at encouraging the development of an internationally competitive internet gambling industry in Britain. The government reckons that online casino operators will be willing to come under the watchful eye of its regulators (and tax collectors) in exchange

Alex Massie

Gordon Brown spins his web little too obviously

David Cameron gives his crucial speech to the Tory party conference tomorrow – a speech that will go some way towards deciding whether he has a real shot at becoming the next British Prime Minister. Despite the rotten polls and the talk of a snap election next month I’m unconvinced (albeit from a distance) that the Tories are toast yet. Still, it’s good to see that Gordon Brown’s commitment to a “new politics” remains rock-solid. Matt d’Ancona explains: So Gordon Brown, having brought forward his trip to Iraq, says that more than 1,000 troops will be home by Christmas. Is this the same Gordon Brown who said at Camp David