Okay, okay, so this statement would be typical of New Labour, an attention grabbing headline and little of real substance below the line. But I will try and make up for it!
For the past 6 or 8 weeks and more specifically in the last two weeks, this country has faced one of its greatest challenges in a generation or perhaps more. The present Government has been further weakened by internal feuds and the leader looks as if he is on another planet, in fact, when he speaks, it serves only to confirm this notion. In this turbulent period, the government has shown no leadership and provided and there has been little or no suggestion that they event know what is going on, least of all how to steer this country through the maze.
There is increasing evidence that the people of this country are far more politically savvy than a decade or so ago and they are being far more vocal and expressive about there feelings. With the ban on smoking in the pubs and clubs around this country and the reduction in the cost of broadband, more and more people are expressing their views online. The people are saying, get it together man, you have failed, us, redeem yourself, show us leadership, confidence, depth and honesty. The leader, Gordon Brown, and his cabinet have scurried around at a great rate of knots but achieved nothing.
The government even resorted to their old tricks of ’smoke and mirror’ soundbites with the promise of help for all, on energy saving measures. But when the announcement was unravelled, it turned out that the nearly every penny was being put up by the energy companies and even then, they clearly had not agreed, because the government was threatening legislation if the energy companies did not comply. Worse still, the government sought no assurance that we would not pay for these programmes through higher future bills and they put less into the overall initiative than they deducted off the Warm Front budget. Evidently this is a government in turmoil, a rudderless ship, but with no other captain on board.
So what better time for the leader of the opposition, David Cameron to ride to the rescue, to show himself and offer up creative, tangible solutions and ideas? But the amazing ‘invisible man’ is nowhere to be seen. Here was a prime opportunity to set politics aside and come up with proposals, new ideas and the people to drive these initiatives forward. Programmes that could offered all party support, a united front at a time of crisis, after all, this country is at war, albeit of a different type to the conventional description. A self-deprecating speech, accepting that whilst New Labour was the primary entity responsible for our current predicament, he felt that all members of parliament should share in that responsibility.
So, here was a perfect opportunity for David Cameron to demonstrate true leadership and maturity, by offering to assist the government in any way he could, by coming up with alternative ideas, initiatives, programmes and interventions. Rather than using the opportunity to kick a man whilst he was down, the British public just don’t like that, he could have offered a helping hand. Allowed, the British public to see that he wasn’t simply a silver spooned, old Etonian, but a person with substance, initiative, depth and commonsense. A person ready to help when needed, to unite under the flag and tackle the issues head on for the sake of the British public. The so called ‘leader’ of the opposition has shown no such skills, he has become the amazing invisible man and in doing so has demonstrated political cowardice, something that is unforgivable in the current climate.
He is so worried about dropping in the polls, that he has said virtually nothing, he is so scared of getting it wrong, he hides in the corner and he is so petrified of New Labour stealing his ideas, that he prefers to see this country suffer, rather than affect his poll results. This suggests a shallow man, one that lacks the maturity and gravitas to lead this country and above all, one that is driven by polls, rather than actions. Well, the latest polls indicate that his strategy is failing, he has fallen in the polls and the LibDems have picked up the slack and quite right to. Those guilty of political cowardice should not be rewarded. Perhaps we should all be grateful that we found out early enough to do something about it.
Cameron might argue that he is keeping his powder dry for the Conservative party conference, perhaps, but this is akin to a life saver watching a drowning man struggle, whilst he puts his swimming cap on, to ensure that his carefully crafted hairstyle does not get wet! History tells us, that in a crisis, it is often the most unlikely people that end up being our saviours, with those that talk to the talk, rarely proving that they can walk the walk. Because a guy is relatively young and talks posh, does not mean he will be a good leader or for that matter prime minister. In fact, most of our better leaders have not been oil painting, so pretty boy needs to think on!
David Cameron, you need to come out of hiding, show yourself, stand up and be counted. Whatever the polls say at the moment, when the time comes, we will either remember your political cowardice, or the other parties will remind us, so when you need the British public the most, they may just desert the coward. I have always considered the Conservative party to be something of a powerhouse, but now, all I see is a quivering wreck.
September 22nd, 2008 at 7:19 pm
For the record, I am a card carrying Conservative.
That said, I am worried that we (Conservatives) feel we are so close to grabbing power that we are afraid to say or do anything substance for fear of alienating anyone. Politics when played properly is is a game of division and polarization. It is about saying and doing things that attract people and for those to be attractive, they need to have substance.
Your point that “He is so worried about dropping in the polls, that he has said virtually nothing, he is so scared of getting it wrong, he hides in the corner and he is so petrified of New Labour stealing his ideas, that he prefers to see this country suffer, rather than affect his poll results.” is well made. I do however question the reflection that Mr Cameron is shallow…I think he has more depth that Mr Clegg or the whole of New Liebour come to that but I realise that is no measure of depth and I do see where you are coming from
I did a post about this on my blog (http://shrewdmammal.wordpress.com/2008/09/19/never-mind-the-quality/) and my worry is that there is no actual meat on the bone of Conservative opposition, nothing to whet the electorates appetite and force a consideration of future.
Labour is in such disarray that there is no need for “keeping his powder dry”.
Irrespective of where you stand in what passes for a political landscape, you have to despair at how bereft it is of real political substance, real value for vote, real qualitative policies for engagement.
We hear so much marketing speak now about “a new way forward” or “engaging with the voter” but what that really means is a focus group driven manifesto architecture that can be molded and shaped at the whim of feedback polls.
Ask anyone to name the top 3 policies of our 3 main “political” parties and it would be like asking people to recite pi to the 6th significant figure, only those really interested can do it but most people think they should know what the first few bits sound like.
Anyone for nailing some jelly to a wall?
Quid Est Veritas?
September 23rd, 2008 at 8:20 am
I have long been a Conservative with a capital ‘C’, however, under David Cameron’s leadership; I would relegate this to a small ‘c’. I am incredibly frustrated that David Cameron has yet to tell us what his values are and the policies of the party. I am suspicious of his motives, because I cannot reconcile a party, or indeed a leader, that will not publicise, justify and stand by their ideals. To me it implies a lack of depth and this has to come from the top.
We have endured 11 years of a government that has looked to the tabloids to develop policy initiatives, I am suspicious that Cameron is doing likewise, determining policy on the hoof, based on the latest headlines. In other words, to sell you granny, simply to win, rather than being voted in based on ideals, policies and substance.
This may be a tad unfair to David Cameron, but where there is a void (one that he could fill), there will, inevitably be suspicion or speculation. I earnestly hope that Cameron will use the Conservative Party Conference to set out his stall, to allow us to judge him and his party on substance. We need to know whether he and his party have the strength of character to stand by their policies and ideals, or will simply give in a the first sign of discontent. It is important we find this out before he is in government. We need to see how he sells his ideas to those that do not agree with him, this could be the true measure of the man.
No one would be happier than I, to see Cameron become a man, rather than a card player. This country needs strong and determined leadership, not fancy words and a smile. If Cameron shows himself to be that man, then he has my vote, but at this time, the jury remains out. If articles such as mine provoke him into revealing his policies, then it can be no bad thing, as you say, he has little to be worried about, New Labour is in a state of dissaray and arguably, is no longer electable.
September 23rd, 2008 at 2:59 pm
My worry is that unless ANY political party keeps kicking the corpse that was the NuLabour experiment, kicking it, stamping on it, smashing it with every policy sledgehammer they can find and generally making sure that it does not emerge from under the stone from whence it came for a VERY long time, that we will suffer for it.
The British electorate has no backbone now. This is the time for action but I fear that we no longer have the desire, will or pitchforks to march upon our town halls and our elected house and demand justice and democracy. If whoever gets elected next does not fix the state in two terms we will with sheep-like mentality, “vote” in this lot again. You know, I know it. We will swallow 2 terms of growing media bile and invective to the point where we start to actually believe them, then we will “vote” and the circus will start again. All the while our taxes will rise, the civil service will get larger (it is already way past the city of Sheffield in terms of population), our privacy and liberty will be the only things that are reduced.
Politics has become a career such that now, there is a distinct lack of connection with the real world and a real fear of losing your job. I don’t want some 20 something media studies graduate working their way up by spinning (aka lying) news to an electorate that could not feel more disenfranchised and separated from the political process if they tried.
I reckon in 20 years time we will look back at this time in our history, laugh nervously and change the subject.
We are letting our children down by not doing what generations before us did, fight for our freedom and our future, demanding accountability and value for our vote, the vote for which our grandfathers died. Their battlefields were Germany, France and Asia, ours are the green lands of this isle..
Quid Est Veritas?
PS - sorry for the rant!
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:53 pm
I am not sure that I would agree that the electorate doesn’t have backbone; I think they just don’t know where to turn or what to do. As you have alluded to, there appears to be little choice between the parties and none of them want to empower the people, they believe the state must set the agenda and think for us, rather than allowing us to think for ourselves. State intervention, rather that individual choice, enterprise and thinking.
One of the primary issues is precisely what you have said. That politics is now a career, not a vocation, people with little or no life experience get offered prime seats based on how young they look, their gender or race, this is not democracy at work. Our members of parliament should be representative of the people they serve, yet many have had privileged backgrounds, so how can they relate to the majority of hard working families.
Our politicians freely believe in taking our liberties, in taxing the majority to pay for the minority and then claiming the credit as if the money was their own. It is difficult to see any party that truly represents the majority, instead we end up with a choice of who would be the least likely to screw us. I agree, we have a responsibility to our children not to let democracy die, but it may be too late. Let us hope that there is still an opportunity for the majority to exert it’s will on MP’s rather than the other way around.
September 23rd, 2008 at 6:17 pm
Maybe I was a bit harsh on the backbone front. What do we do? I am at a loss….
September 23rd, 2008 at 6:21 pm
I wish I knew the answer!