Wednesday, September 02, 2009

On a promise

Over on The Telegraph comment section, Simon Heffer discusses an issue I raised the other day - Scottish independence - and seems, more or less, to reach the same conclusion as me.

But he inadvertently (at least I assume it was not intentional) raises another issue - about the Tory Party. Mr Heffer refers to the information on "the West Lothian question" available on the Conservative party website which claims ...

" ..... that a Tory government will address the West Lothian Question and give English MPs a "decisive say" in matters that affect only England."

Mr Heffer then goes on to say .......

"I am not entirely sure what that means, but it sounds promising."

That, in a nutshell, encapsulates the Cameron doctrine. It all sounds very promising, but remains starkly devoid of detail and nobody really knows what it means.

Mr Cameron and his party have made a myriad of statements that often sound "very promising" but when you actually try and make sense of any of it you will find that their position is either almost identical to that of Labour and/or the Lib Dems or just so vague that it could mean almost anything to anybody.

In some ways that is a clever plan. It allows conservative voters to still cling - vainly, in my opinion - to the vague hope that the Tory party might yet prove to be conservative while allowing progressive liberals the hope and belief that the Tory party really has changed (which it has).

Ultimately, though, one group or the other is going to feel very let down come a Tory election victory and my money would be on those hoping that the Tories will come out of the conservative closet after the next election.

They won't - and I will tell you why. If you want to get an idea of what a national Tory government will be like then take a look at any of the Tory run councils. You will find those councils as wedded to the progressive doctrine as any Lib Dem or Labour council. You will find they are as committed as any to promoting the favourite causes of progressive liberalism and have virtually abandoned any pretence at conservatism whatsoever.

4 comments:

JuliaM said...

"Ultimately, though, one group or the other is going to feel very let down come a Tory election victory..."

One need only look across the pond to see how the US left are reacting on discovering their Presidential idol is really a *gasp* politician after all, and not the risen Messiah.

Stan said...

True - although, to be fair, the expectations heaped on Obama were preposterous. That said, he encouraged those expectations and it was only when it became apparent that he might win that he started to try and play them down.

Malthebof said...

Somebody else said this 'Can you think of anything that David Cameron has said that could not have been said by Anthony Blair'

Stan said...

That's very true, Malthebof - although that is often used by Blair's detractors as evidence of his "right wing" leanings rather than Cameron's progressive credentials.