Cameron talks New Labour, but acts old Tory class warrior

New Labour CameronSome journalists are incredibly gullible. On the basis of his rhetoric, Dan Hodges tweeted “Could someone on the Left tell me which part of David Cameron’s speech I’m meant to disagree with.” How about Dave’s outright porkie concerning Jeremy Corbyn’s comments on the assassination of Osama Bin Laden? Seeing as Dan’s less a journo and more a well remunerated “opinion former“, what does a proper one think? Will Jane Merrick of the Indy on Sunday writesLabour’s gigantic problem: why did I, from a Liverpool comp, who voted for Blair & never voted Tory, agree nearly every word of PM’s speech?” Seduced by words, it’s never occurred to Jane that what the Tories say might be quite different from what they do. Continue reading

Enjoy #piggate, but don’t forget Lord Sewel

Pig's headMany politicians from US president and London mayors downwards have survived run-of-the-mill kiss and tell marital indiscretion. But necrophiliac bestiality on the part of a prime minister truly takes us into uncharted territory.

At the very least, yesterday’s revelations concerning David Cameron’s youthful Oxford high jinks are going to dog him – if that’s the right turn of phrase here – for the rest of his term in office. Henceforth no visit to a campus or constituency association fundraising shindig will remain unmarked by a gaggle of demonstrators hilariously clad in pig masks and doing their best to imitate porcine grunting. Continue reading

One of Jez’s first tasks must be to frame his project, and to de-frame Osborne’s

osborne red facedIf there is one single reason why Labour lost the election, it’s that Osborne realised the critical importance of framing his project in a way that made it acceptable in the eyes of a majority of the electorate. The fact that it was a string of lies didn’t matter as long as people believed it.

This was Osborne’s line: the Labour government left a terrible economic mess, we’ve cleared it up by the only means possible, it’s been painful but we’re all in it together, we’ve succeeded in our recovery and should stick with it. Every statement there is false, but in the absence of Labour refuting all these lies, it was the only tale in town. Continue reading

Corbyn forces the Tories to take him seriously

david cameronAfter all the slurs about unelectability, the Tories have very quickly changed their tune and acknowledged that they are now facing a very real threat that they’ve not encountered for the last 30 years. At a meeting of the political cabinet last Tuesday they decided to focus on the idea that they offer a better future through lower taxes, a higher minimum wage, more jobs, and better public services, while a left-wing agenda would deliver insecurity through higher spending, higher taxes and more borrowing. If that is their plan, they have a real fight on their hands since almost all of their claims are downright wrong. Continue reading

Dithering Dave and the refugees

I detest the term “game-changing“, but the wide publication of the little body of Aylan Kurdi washed up on a Turkish beach touched millions of hearts coarsened by decades of anti-immigrant racism and hysteria. Having obstinately set his face against taking more refugees, Dave and his pitiful government were shamed by the huge numbers taken in by Germany, and a rare united front by the press (excepting the Express, and the Daily Star for whom the latest Big Brother was more newsworthy) who turned on his unsympathetic response to the crisis. Matters weren’t helped either by Yvette Cooper exploiting the government’s difficulties – perhaps the only leadership candidate to do so during the contest. It is to be hoped then that if any good is to come out of this tragedy, and the nameless stories of suffering and loss that go untold, let it be a stake through the toxic attitudes to refugees and migrants once and for all. Continue reading