Saturday, July 28, 2007
Two birds, one stone
The sun is shining and 800 leaflets and an overgrown garden beckon, so for now I will leave you with two telling quotes from this morning's Western Mail.
First up is Tomos Livingstone on the embattled Tory leader:
Every time Mr Cameron has tried to do policy, it’s collapsed around his ears. The grammar school debacle is one example: one Tory MP told me the press had actually underestimated the damage that volte face had done, an analysis that suggests some serious discontent. And one popular idea suggested – a tax break for married couples – has no guaranteed place in the Tory manifesto.
Mr Brown is letting it be known he might call an early election; Mr Cameron says there will be a Conservative “pre-manifesto” in October.
Most worrying of all, the slump in the polls has revealed how fragile Mr Cameron’s grip on the party is.
The impression MPs have been giving is that they are prepared to put up with a leader with no tie who talks about the environment a lot if it means he’s ahead in the polls, but not if he isn’t. There’s no serious talk of yet another leadership crisis – after all, who else have they got?
Not a good time for the Tories and, according to Anthony Jones of Llanidloes in the letters' page, Plaid Cymru face some challenges as well, in adjusting to government:
The challenge for Plaid, particularly now they have been drawn into the messy political reality of coalition government, will be to maintain their strong perception in the public’s mind. Government is about saying “No” to policies the public wants, and whether they will be happy to watch as schools and hospitals close or sick people are refused drugs will be interesting to watch.
That is one development I will be monitoring very closely.
First up is Tomos Livingstone on the embattled Tory leader:
Every time Mr Cameron has tried to do policy, it’s collapsed around his ears. The grammar school debacle is one example: one Tory MP told me the press had actually underestimated the damage that volte face had done, an analysis that suggests some serious discontent. And one popular idea suggested – a tax break for married couples – has no guaranteed place in the Tory manifesto.
Mr Brown is letting it be known he might call an early election; Mr Cameron says there will be a Conservative “pre-manifesto” in October.
Most worrying of all, the slump in the polls has revealed how fragile Mr Cameron’s grip on the party is.
The impression MPs have been giving is that they are prepared to put up with a leader with no tie who talks about the environment a lot if it means he’s ahead in the polls, but not if he isn’t. There’s no serious talk of yet another leadership crisis – after all, who else have they got?
Not a good time for the Tories and, according to Anthony Jones of Llanidloes in the letters' page, Plaid Cymru face some challenges as well, in adjusting to government:
The challenge for Plaid, particularly now they have been drawn into the messy political reality of coalition government, will be to maintain their strong perception in the public’s mind. Government is about saying “No” to policies the public wants, and whether they will be happy to watch as schools and hospitals close or sick people are refused drugs will be interesting to watch.
That is one development I will be monitoring very closely.
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Peter
The rest of that letter was actually quite intelligent. Its a rather odd view of government though. There is no real reason why the hospitals "have" to close or most of the schools for that matter.
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The rest of that letter was actually quite intelligent. Its a rather odd view of government though. There is no real reason why the hospitals "have" to close or most of the schools for that matter.
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