David Cameron orders shift to core Tory values

[Bono]

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/28/ncam128.xml

David Cameron orders shift to core Tory values

By Alice Thomson and Rachel Sylvester
Last Updated: 1:18pm BST 28/09/2007

David Cameron is preparing to move to core Tory policies on tax, marriage and crime and style himself as an heir to Margaret Thatcher - not Tony Blair.

In a shift that will see him distance himself from green tax proposals, the Tory leader will use next week's crucial conference to try to reinvigorate his leadership before a possible snap election.

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph today, George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, discloses that proposals that proved unpopular with ordinary Tory voters will be scrapped. They include taxing people for parking at supermarkets and for taking more than one short flight a year.

He also makes clear his intention to reform inheritance tax.

Mr Osborne says Gordon Brown is a "fake" and taunts the Labour leader by saying if he does not call an election now he will have "bottled it".

And after weeks of poor polls - the latest put Labour 11 points ahead - and watching the Prime Minister make direct appeals to Tory voters, Mr Osborne has been forced to fight back and stake Mr Cameron's claim for traditional backing.

Mr Brown used an interview with this paper and his conference speech on Monday to try to woo Middle England. Promises by the Government to review policies on crime and drugs have also been seen as an attempt to stake out traditional Tory ground.

By contrast, recent Conservative green proposals were greeted with astonishment.

Cabinet ministers at Labour's conference in Bournemouth this week could not contain their pleasure at Mr Cameron's clumsy attempts to use the multi-millionaire Zac Goldsmith to come up with green policies for "ordinary people". It threatened to be a millstone round the party's neck.

That will be put right next week when many of the plans are ditched. "I know that families going to the supermarket and doing their weekly shopping do not need to be taxed," Mr Osborne says.

The plan to give air passengers a "green miles" allowance, under which they would be taxed if they took more than one short flight a year, is to be replaced by a tax on each flight made by an airline.

By acting now Mr Osborne hopes the controversy will be forgotten. He describes inheritance tax as a "tax on aspiration" which will be changed.

And he hints that the Tories may consider reforms to stamp duty to help first-time buyers.
David Cameron: ready
   

"One of the great tragedies of the last few years is that people have been completely priced out of the housing market," Mr Osborne says. "It's not just that house prices have gone up, stamp duty that the average first-time buyer never used to pay make it prohibitive for many."

In an attempt to reclaim the party's past he denies that Mr Cameron is "the heir to Blair" and instead calls on the memory of Lady Thatcher, who recently had tea with Mr Brown, in a photo opportunity that infuriated the Tory leadership.

"I'm an admirer of Margaret Thatcher," he says. "I'm more than an admirer, as somebody who studied history I think she is one of the great prime ministers of British history. Of course we are successors of the Thatcher inheritance.

"She's a Conservative and I'm a Conservative and Tony Blair and Gordon Brown are Labour politicians. We're not dumping Margaret Thatcher, David Cameron's first job in politics was working for Margaret Thatcher."

He then attacks Lord Tebbit's praise of the Brown premiership. "Norman Tebbit is out of touch with where the Conservative movement is."

Seesh, how can anyone take this clown seriously?

[Democratic Hawk]

Seesh, how can anyone take this clown seriously?

All the while, Cameron is insisting that he will not be distracted from modernising the party.

Incidentally, I'm working on persuading a staunch Thatcherite friend (he was once a Downing Street PC back in her days) to vote Labour. Not that it would matter much in Easington. He doesn't like Cameron, certainly thinks Brown will make an infinitely better PM and has never forgiven the Conservatives for dispensing with Mrs Thatcher in 1990

He agrees with Lord Tebbit

Dave

[Democratic Hawk]

BTW, kind sod that I am I feel I really needed to share my thoughts on some young chap, who likes Cameron, but is rather dismayed at the prospect of the UK becoming a "one party state"

As the Conservative Party Conference approaches, the bottom-line for Cameron is this. He can either be, positively, proactive in articulating the Conservatives as an alternative to Brown and Labour or he can be, negatively, reactive towards Brown and Labour.

He needs to decide once and for all, whether he is a ‘moderniser’, who is not afraid to confront the reactionary right wing of his party, just as Blair and Brown have Labour’s left, or someone who merely capitulates to them the moment the going gets tough.

The Labour Party’s move to the centre ground was protracted and often painful. Although the modernisation began with Neil Kinnock and continued under John Smith, Tony Blair took Labour by the horns taking the party exactly where he wanted it to be, a progressive party for the 21st century. Much of the Thatcherite ‘Settlement’ was accepted, although Labour being pretty much ‘Third Way’ has subscibed to capitalism ‘with a conscience’ for want of better words.

This week will either be the making or the breaking of David Cameron. Part of his problem being that he expected to just walz in as party leader then ride a high wave on the back of Labour’s faults, which is why, thus far, Gordon Brown has sent him reeling.

Dave

[Verily]

The game is up. I'm glad I was never completely sold on David Cameron; it makes me feel somewhat righteous about this whole thing now.

[afleitch]

some young chap, who likes Cameron, but is rather dismayed at the prospect of the UK becoming a "one party state"

I hold those concerns, particularly with the slow decline of the Lib Dems. Browns shift towards a statist 'British (TM)' christian democratic model and anti-migrant populism is of a great concern to someone who want's to see some serious non-scripted, non rehashed politics and a party comitted to fulfulling the manifesto on which it was elected.

Great piece from Iain Macwhirter here, who I have to say is spot on with my own thinking.

'I accept that Brown is a master politician at the top of his game, and all that. But is it necessary to bid so shamelessly for the Tory vote; to borrow Michael Howard's "dog whistle" - the practice of using ambiguous phrases to communicate with the baser prejudices of Tory followers - and then blow it harder than even the former Tory leader dared in 2005? Howard never called for "British jobs for British workers". Nor did he promise to deport immigrants selling drugs and firearms, making the dog-whistle elision of foreigners and crime.

Brown's slogan "Strength to Change Britain" was pure Thatcher, and he had set the scene for his first conference as Labour leader by taking tea with Margaret. Like Thatcher, Brown is trying to appeal to the sections of the lower middle classes who like a strong leader who'll stand up for Britain and do something about immigration. But does he need to be so blatant about it? Call me old-fashioned, but I don't think that winning praise from Norman Tebbit is something a Labour leader should be proud of...

But a bigger question is this: what is all this spin doing to his own Labour Party by stuffing all this Tory nonsense down its throat? Isn't Brown in danger of dragging it to a position alien to Labour's own roots and values? Brown's yes-ministers have been trying to anticipate his every ideological move, eager to show their willingness to abase themselves. Thus we had Jack Straw ludicrously praising himself for being a "have-a-go hero" and calling for the law to be changed so that citizens have less risk of prosecution for attacking criminals.

Nor should they be proud of the way conference has been emasculated. A couple of years ago we attacked Tony Blair's thought police for ejecting octogenarian Walter Wolfgang from the conference for heckling the foreign secretary during a debate on Iraq. Well, under Brown, there was no risk of that happening because there was no debate on Iraq, or any other issue of the moment, such as private equity, low pay, immigration, Europe. Under the new conference rules debates of substance have been replaced by sycophantic interviews by TV celebrities.'

[Democratic Hawk]

some young chap, who likes Cameron, but is rather dismayed at the prospect of the UK becoming a "one party state"

I hold those concerns, particularly with the slow decline of the Lib Dems. Browns shift towards a statist 'British (TM)' christian democratic model and anti-migrant populism is of a great concern to someone who want's to see some serious non-scripted, non rehashed politics and a party comitted to fulfulling the manifesto on which it elected.

Can you see me seriously having much beef with Labour moving towards a 'British' christian democratic model? I'm pretty adaptable as long as Labour doesn't deviate from its core tenets:

The Labour Party is a democratic socialist party. It believes by the strength of our common endeavours we achieve more than we achieve alone. , so as to create for each of us the means to realise our true potential and for all of us a community in which power, wealth and opportunity are in the hands of the many not the few, where the rights we enjoy reflect of the duties we owe, and where we live together, freely, in a spirit of solidarity, tolerance and respect

Some many feel that Labour has stolen some Tory clothes but the Conservatives have moved onto social justice, yes the very thing many on the Right have derided all these years as a mere euphenism for the hated socialism.

Which brings me to the issue of economic migrants; personally, I think there are a great asset to the British economy, here to work not to freeload but I agree with:

1) An Australian style points system to let skilled workers into the country; together with:
2) A unified border police to prevent people trafficking/smuggling

Yes, there are aspect of Labour's manifesto that were ditched. Notably, the smoking ban which was extended beyond its original intent and the absence of a referendum on the EU Constitution but then didn't the French and the Dutch kick that into touch. That doesn't mean to say, that I personally oppose a referendum on the Reform Treaty. But then, we never got one on the Single European Act or the Maastrict Treaty

I got an email from the Labour Party telling me that July's campaign theme was Smoke-Free England (or words to that effect, bugger if I can remember) and I sent a rather sharp response along the lines that I would not on the grounds that it was "unmanifestotutional".

Dave

[afleitch]

1) An Australian style points system to let skilled workers into the country; together with:
2) A unified border police to prevent people trafficking/smuggling

I don't have much beef with these. But what makes my jaw drop is that Michael Howard backed the first point and was labelled, in no uncertain terms a 'racist' by sections of the Labour party at the last GE. And point two was supported by David Cameron. He found it pressing and asked Gordon Brown to support it in his first PMQ's in June. Brown opposed it and party spokespeople labelled Cameron an opportunist. Two/three weeks later, after support for the plan in the Murdoch/Dacre media circle Brown adopted the policy.

Brown is an opportunist; MRSA sweeps, super matrons, self defence laws, immigration the list of policy initiatives lifted from the 2005 Conservative manifesto is shocking.

It appears, and I don't mean to speak out of turn here, that wherever Labour goes you're going to follow. Labour members need to think long and hard at where Gordon is taking them; onwards to a probable victory but at the cost of policy, principle and consistency. Towards a flag waving, right wing statism.

[Democratic Hawk]

Brown is an opportunist; MRSA sweeps, super matrons, self defence laws, immigration the list of policy initiatives lifted from the 2005 Conservative manifesto is shocking.

Well for a start I'm not that familiar with the 2005 Conservative manifesto

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Far from speaking out of turn, not at all . In fact, I'll go as far, without being even too familiar with said manifesto, as to say that I may personally agree with each and every one of them. So it's not so  much a case of my following Gordon

You know the reasons why I'm Labour (I think you are familiar with my core) but the bottom-line is that I don't trust the Conservatives with a) the economy and b) public services, given their track record. That time may change, if and when, the Conservatives form a government but not until

I dislike Cameron personally. Possibly trying to be, unlike Baroness Thatcher, something that he isn't. I can't quite put my finger on it.

Of course, if Cameron makes a proactive speech at his party's conference in which he articulates an alternative vision of Britain and the policies to back it up rather than engaging in some reactive mean-spirited tirade against Gordon Brown and Labour , he might go up in my esteem

He's got to be very careful there, voters, if polls are anything to go by, seem to approve of Gordon as PM (and not just Labour voters)

Yes, I know some Labour figures, like Neil Kinnock and Hazel Blears, got a bit carried away with themselves but Gordon set the standard. I'm not surprised Neil has a bit of a log on his shoulder given the way the press vilified him, when he was sticking to his guns moving the party forward. And you guys think Cameron gets it rough! I expect the Murdoch papers to be kind to him to various degrees, especially in so far as the Reform Treaty goes

Dave

[The Man From G.O.P.]

So this is a shift to the right.... right?


Edit: sorry having to ask this, it's been a miserable day, (Texas, Wales losing....) I don't want to real all that.

[afleitch]

So this is a shift to the right.... right?


Edit: sorry having to ask this, it's been a miserable day, (Texas, Wales losing....) I don't want to real all that.

No. It's simply a shift away from the green stuff - they're going to talk more about taxation, help for married/civil partnership couples with kids, societal breakdown, local and community solutions to crime that sort of thing.

Personally I think they should commit themselves to heavy tax cuts for low incomes; call Gordon's bluff on the issue of poverty and the widening gap between the super rich and the super poor.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Fwiw, the gap is mainly between the rich and everyone else. Most studies (including the recent Joseph Rowntree one) tend to agree that absolute poverty has declined over the past decade (though there seems to be no agreement on how much).
But I can understand why the Tories might prefer to concentrate on all this "broken society" stuff instead; the current Tory frontbench is in no position to lecture anyone on the gap between the rich and the rest.

[afleitch]

the current Tory frontbench is in no position to lecture anyone on the gap between the rich and the rest.

I wouldn't say that; I don't think you have to come from a certain background simply in order to discuss an issue or care about the issue (if so then only David Davis and William Hague could discuss it; they have more humble backgrounds than most of the Labour frontbench), nor is our current front bench primarily of Thatcherite stock and thereore directly responsible for some of the mistakes of the 80's. At least they are not trying to be something they are not, unlike Ed Balls childish attack on Cameron being a 'toff' despite having a very similar background and educational path as David Cameron.

I've been a supporter of the abolition of income tax for those earning less than a set income coupled with a penny on the tax of the middle class (as opposed to Browns tax hike for low earners which, as an underpaid civil servant i'm already having to budget for now ) We need to put an end to increased taxation and then handouts based on set criteria; WTC payments have not kept up pace with the increase in income tax and other indirect taxation and as a system are unnecessarily complicated. Many in the party are warming to the idea, but I expect it won't unfortunately be adopted for quite some time.

[Democratic Hawk]

Introducing the Rt. Hon. David Cameron MP, Leader of Her Majesty's Opposition:



Time that boat was SUNK

Dave