David Cameron is not the Tory Leader they really want

Posted on July 29, 2009 by bobpiper

In the wake of the 1997 General Election victory there were those deluded souls in the Labour Party who thought Blair would immediately throw off the woolly sheep’s clothing and bare his fangs of socialism. They believed it partly because they wanted so much to believe it that they lost any sense of proportion, and partly because that’s what the Tories had been telling them with their ‘demon eyes’ posters.
Similarly, there are the delusional amongst the Conservatives who think that David Cameron, if elected, will drop all this guff about protecting the NHS and looking after disabled children. Dump his commitment to equalities for women, blacks, gays and lesbians, give the EU an ultimatum, shape up or we ship out, all that sort of New Tory woolly rhetoric that has made Cameron so attractive to the chattering classes who write Guardian editorials.
Well, Simon Heffer is not fooled. Like Hitchens, Simon Heffer will be dismissed as one of those siren voices that would never be satisfied unless Cameron committed himself to bloodsports, capital and corporal punishment, and total withdrawal from the EU immediately. And to a certain extent that may be true, but if there are Tories out there who think by electing Cameron they will be electing anything different to a slightly right-of-centre New Labour under New Management, you are living in a fool’s paradise. As Tony Benn once wrote, we used to elect politicians to manage the economy in the interest of the people. these days we elect the politicians to manage the electorate in the interest of the economy.

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6 Responses to David Cameron is not the Tory Leader they really want

  1. Jackart says:
    July 29, 2009 at 12:27 pm

    It’s not that “the Tory herd” are against equality for Black Lesbians etc… It’s just we don’t really think about people as part of an oppressed group, preferring to see people as individuals.
    For the record, most Tories voted for Cameron, and are not like your stereotype. The Tory party is much more democratic than your party.
    Finally the overwhelming desire of all tories is to get elected. (Those who don’t like Cameron have mostly buggered off to UKIP.) After all, almost anyone could do a better job of Government than the current lot.
    Priority 1. Get the rotters out.
    Priority 2. Get the rotters out.
    Priority 3. Get the rotters out.
    Be nasty to Blacks ‘n Gays doesn’t make it to the list, I’m afraid.

    Reply
  2. iifabloke says:
    July 29, 2009 at 12:54 pm

    A good post, Bob, and I agree with every word. But, on the basis that ‘it’s the economy, stupid’ the key here is George Osborne. And the question is, will he make a better fist of it than Gordon Brown? We must all hope so.

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  3. MichaelS says:
    July 29, 2009 at 1:18 pm

    I broadly agree with this and was certainly completely true a year ago. However the economic crisis changes things somewhat. The cosy consensus now is the need for deep public spending cuts after the next election and whilst Dave has made assurances about the NHS the impetus will be for him to wield the axe harshly in other areas. I suspect the entire Tory party would be on board with this and the only disagreement would be from those who want to get rid of the top rate tax increases.
    Without a radical change the current Labour leadership would also make cuts but I doubt to the same extent. For a start Brown hasn’t been making the hysterical statements on public debt that have been coming from the opposition benches and I think genuinely sees the need to invest to prevent unemployment.

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  5. David Duff says:
    July 29, 2009 at 5:27 pm

    With the proviso that you can never be absolutely sure what a politician will do once he’s wriggled his arse into the prime ministerial chair, I agree with the general thrust of your post, the usual exuberences apart, of course!

    Reply
  6. Letters From A Tory says:
    July 30, 2009 at 9:56 am

    “Simon Heffer will be dismissed as one of those siren voices that would never be satisfied unless Cameron committed himself to bloodsports, capital and corporal punishment, and total withdrawal from the EU immediately.”
    Yup, that just about sums it up!

    Reply