The Tory election campaign had a bad start.
Gaffe followed resignation followed gaffe. Rees-Mogg revealed his belief in his own superiority. Andrew Bridgen revealed his stupidity. Alana Cairns his lack of judgement, or worse, when it come to the seriousness of rape allegations. James Cleverly proved he was not, yet again. Conservative Central Office's howling mistake in issuing a hopelessly misedited video was even called out by Piers Morgan.
All that take some doing. But there is an easy explanation. The Conservative Party has shifted markedly to the right over the last few years. Those who understood anything (and I mean, anything at all because I do not want to overstate thing) concerning compromise, empathy, management and even politics, have been almost entirely purged from its ranks. And this at a time when there is general opinion that the quality of politicians has already been in decline.
The result is now all too obvious. The Tory leadership really is made up of people who you would not trust when it came to selling second hand cars. Worse, most could not manage the process of doing so. And many would alienate potential customers long before a deal was being considered.
Let me be clear that I expect gaffes from Labour in this election. The LibDems have already suffered their seemingly routine prime ministerial delusions. So I am not saying this is solely a Tory trait. But, I think it likely to be most especially a Tory trait. In a party where indiscipline is rife, politically maverick behaviour rampant and common sense decidedly rare, from the Leader onwards, the chance that the Tories can blow this is very large. Indeed, it may well be the biggest factor in the outcome.
For all governments elections are theirs to lose. That is true even when you are a minority already, albeit with a large opinion poll lead. Labour has to do extraordinarily well in this election. But the Tories only have to be themselves to lose it. They were up to the task of being themselves yesterday. And unless they're going to be as absent from much of the campaign as Johnson was from EU negotiations during July, August and September, then the likelihood that they will continue to blunder is very high indeed. That's the inevitable consequence of sacking competence.
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Submitted my points for Labour Manifesto. GND, tax relief on pensions to be used to fund GND capital projects and SCA all in there.
Thanks
Hi Richard,
I couldn’t agree more. Ken Clarke said of Boris Johnson that, “He’s great fun, but he couldn’t run a whelk stall”! Now he is supposedly running the country. He has recruited people of his own type and worse to fill his cabinet.
Although I disagree with Ken Clarke’s politics, he is a competent politician, and on the above point I think he was spot on.
Hi Richard,
But not even everyone that is supposedly (or was) part of the Labour movement shares our distaste for Boris Johnson. Ian Austin (ex-Labour MP) on Radio 4 was just telling people to back Boris in the election!
Although I do believe that Labour should/has to be a broad church there are some views that it simply cannot include. People that don’t have an overall belief in social justice and instead worship flawed economic models and right-wing populists definitely belong somewhere else.
Really?
What did he say?
From the Guardian live politics blog:
“Former Labour MP, Ian Austin, has called on voters to back Boris Johnson in the election saying his former party would make the country worse off.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4 Today programme Austin said: “I’m not a Tory but I wouldn’t say Boris Johnson is unfit to be our prime minister in the way that I say that about Jeremy Corbyn.” ”
Austin added: “I think their [Labour’s] economic policies would make our country worse off not better off. I think they would chase away investment. I think they would put businesses and jobs at risk. I think Jeremy Corbyn’s Brexit policy is a completely fantasy.”
A little man with a big chip on his shoulder
We’re just two days into a protracted election campaign and the psephologists are in over-drive!
I wish I shared your qualified optimism about the Tories being more accident-prone than Labour. But who knows how the next few weeks will pan out? “Events, dear boy, events.” The latest flow diagram from Jon Worth offers a more rational perpsective – https://jonworth.eu/brexitdiagram-series-4.
What’s both troubling and perplexing for progressives is that, despite 10 years of gvt. incompetence and appalling austerity driven policies, the Tories still have a commanding lead in the polls (https://www.politico.eu/europe-poll-of-polls/united-kingdom). Maybe that says more about the English electorate than the government.
I don’t suppose even the latest bad news about the UK economy (https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/uk-economy-slowest-oecd-general-election-tuc-a9188136.html) will have much impact on voters.
Apparently Isaac Levido will be a more effective and less controversial campaign manager than Dominic Cummings. Stephen Bush (whose analyses I always find sensible) offers this opinion in the NS – https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2019/11/conservatives-are-well-ahead-polls-they-fear-tactical-voting-and-pro-remain.
Judged on performance and policy, the Conservative Party shouldn’t be the bookies favourite (https://www.justbookies.com/election-odds). So, taking into account what we know to date, the only logical reasons for the Tories and Johnson to have any chance of being re-elected are: the prolonged disorganised state of the Labour Party + Corbyn’s lack of appeal to ‘middle England’, archaic FPTP voting and the pro-Tory MSM billionaires for whom ‘fake news’ is a given. One can’t even trust the BBC to be impartial. I find it all very depressing. Thank God for decent coffee!
Last time the tory manifesto did not survive to its first weekend – dementia tax! This time their campaign is starting in a manner I haven’t anticipated – I have said before that Johnson’s mentors (Murdoch et al) made the same error as Brown (and May too) did – they blew their political ‘honeymoon’ capital with the voters by not having the early election.
But this is something else – it appears the Tories don’t care!
Either they WANT to lose – BADLY. or,
They are CERTAIN that they will win!
The first option implies a major economic catastrophe they want to avoid being on the bridge for.
The second option implies they are party to the greatest election stealing criminal conspiracy ever.
The MSM and Electoral Commission require independent monitoring- we should call in the international body responsible immediately.
There was a lot more from Austin as well. Expected him to pop up with some criticism as is his wont, but he really went after Corbyn. Comments about Corbyn spending his whole career consorting with terrorists, not being a patriot etc etc. As I’m sure was completely intended, there will be plenty of ammo for the Tories to throw at Corbyn over the coming weeks.
If I was to be a cynic (and I am), I’d say Austin will most likely be well-rewarded for this full-blooded attack.
On Radio 4’s World at One prog today a commentator mentioned that Austin has a job working for Conservative Central Office (without expanding on the nature of the job), so, at the very least, he’ll be getting his brains picked and probably also being pressurised to make statements about voting Tory in the GE.
He has
He is a trade envoy
According to our friend Wikipedia In July 2016, Austin was reprimanded by the Speaker of the House of Commons for heckling Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn by shouting “sit down and shut up” and “you’re a disgrace”, as Corbyn criticised the 2003 invasion of Iraq in his response to the publication of the Chilcot Inquiry.
Corbyn was right on that one. We still have to see if Johnson is going to join Trump’s sabre rattling in the Persian Gulf.
I agree that the Tories are incompetence defined.
But the Labour ‘suicide squad’ tendency (Austin, Watson and its Jewish MPs and other pro- Blairites) will give the Tories the lift they need. Brilliant! Meanwhile the Labour defectors to the Lib Dems (Tories too) will ensure there is no joining up of any parties in the interests of BREXIT or at least a decent withdrawal. from the EU.
It is a perfect storm of stupidity.
I just hope the younger voters somehow carry the day and depose the Tories.
FACTS.
In the 2011 census of the 63,182,178 UK population, these claiming Judaism as their religion is 261,584 that is 0.4%.
Of those the number who claim to be Labour voters has been about 20-25% over the years.
That is 50-70,000 votes over the whole country across 650 constituencies.
Or a max average of just over one hundred per each MP.
Can we please please SHOUT that the whole issue is made up as a political smear and most jewish voters have always voted Tory.
Any voter that actually bases their decision on this smear is thick as mince.
( As an exercise ask anyone quoting AS as a problem for Labour how many people they think are in any religious group – the answer i’m getting is millions! ).
I’m a little surprised to see the concerns that have been expressed by for example Margaret Hodge (and indeed many other serious people) being dismissed as a “made up … political smear”.
There has been anti-semitism in Labour
There is anti-semitism everywhere
Is the issue as big as it is claimed to be by some? It seems not
That’s not to dismiss it
But it’s also true that those complaining do seem to hav3 other agendas in play as well
It is hard to determine truth in that case
I am not taking sides
I think this is the reality
The BBC’s part in this election will be significant, methinks. John Pienaar’s piece on Boris Johnson, on last night’s 10pm bulletin, reminding us that, of course BJ was a very popular Lord Mayor of London. I’d quite forgotten that. Thanks BBC ‘News’ for reminding me.
It’s nothing short of revisionism.
Indeed
Last not on C4 News, Snow interviewed Austin and asked him if he really thought that voting for a party that had brought in austerity and the Windrush scandal (£6 million to put right apparently) was better than voting for Corbyn and Austin was reduced to bluster.
They also interviewed Dominic Grieve who also said that Corbyn was a threat to the country! I respect Grieve’s position on BREXIT tremendously but when he starts talking about Corbyn you realise that he still is a Tory boy through and through.
As for the Jewish Chronic(le) – fair enough, denounce Corbyn but when is that rag going to also call for a debt Jubilee in line with Jewish beliefs? Has it ever called for one? Since austerity was created by the Tories on the lie that the Government was hopelessly in debt because of Labour – has the Jewish Chronicle ever put the need for a Mosaic debt jubilee (‘deror’ is it in Hebrew?) on its front page in order to end austerity? How Jewish is the Jewish Chronicle really?
There is an ugly stink about the anti-Semitism issue in Labour. Is it perpetrated by some affluent, Establishment Jews scared that they will have to pay more tax or is the prevalence of anti-Semitism in the party just being used by anti-Corbynite MP’s who just happen to be Jewish? Or is it both?
In all my years of voting for Labour, I have never heard any fellow Labour voter say a bad word about the Jewish community. The ‘enemy’ has always been the Tory party – not the Jewish population – so I agree with Dungroanin above.
My apologies if my comments are too risky to publish. It would be nice and useful to see the Jewish community in this country talking openly about debt Jubilee’s though wouldn’t it? It is austerity that has proven to be an existential threat to so many people’s livelihoods and well-being after all.
I know a lot in Labour who are angry about this issue, and on both sides of it
My position is both sides have made mistakes
They clearly have
We are approaching a watershed moment for the Labour Party. Momentum and Lansman has a tight grip on the Party and it holds no appeal for the centre left voter. I feel sorry for Jeremy he is clearly uncomfortable in the role of leader and his history as a political activist will always be used against him. He isn’t helped by some low quality public figures like Abbot, Raynor, Thornberry who do more harm than good. I think McDonnell is sharp and equipped to be a good chancellor but it won’t happen. If the Party wants to be in power it has to broaden its appeal and a poor showing at the next election will lead to a lot of soul searching.
Mick
Yesterday you had another name here
You are going to the troll list
Richard
Pilgrim
Austin talks of Corbyn being on the side of our enemies and a defence liability. The Conservatives raise the security issue in passing like it was obvious. To Austin and his ilk, allies are the US , Israel and Saudi Arabia and the enemies are Palestinians and Iranians, who are a real threat to both of the Middle eastern states. However, the terrorists who have crated mayhem on European streets are inspired and funded by sources in Saudi Arabia viz. the Wahhabi cult who have used oil money to spread their teaching throughout the Islamic world. Do we put pressure on Saudi Arabia ? No, we have oil corporations who fund politicians ( I won’t comment on Israeli influence ) especially in the USA and there are huge markets for arms sales for both countries. Those arms are being used in Yemen and ‘technical assistance’ is given by the US and UK. I read the United Natioons may cite the US, France and UK for complicity in war crimes. I don’t want to think of my country engaged in such things. And lastly, after the Manchester bombing one politician said we needed to have “difficult conversations with Saudi Arabia”. It got no comments, that I saw, in the media. That politician was Corbyn . It causes me to ask-‘who is the threat to whose security?’
Interesting.
The problem with the Jewish Chronicle’s stance is that it implies that people should vote for a party that has done nothing but hurt people since 2010 – the Tory party.
Added to that, the Tory party has an Islamophobia problem so what message does that send out to the Muslim community?!! It is stupid and decisive of the JC through and through.
I say again my history of involvement with the Labour party has never revealed any anti-Semitism.
If I ever saw the Labour party (for example) putting forward proposals that would be aimed at reducing the status of the Jewish community in this country I would protest and turn my back on them. I would march alongside Jews to protest as my family has done about BREXIT.
Yet that is exactly what the Tory Government did to the Windrush generation for example. That is what the Jewish Chronicle is asking the public to do – support a Government with a track record of hurt. Corbyn and Labour haven’t actually done anything as they are not in Government.
It’s crazy. And unjust.
It is fun watching the Tories unravel (one of the casualties is my former MP Sir Henry Bellingham, who has decided not to stand for re-election, a decision which makes Jo Rust’s task as Labour candidate somewhat easier). Probably the least bad effort on behalf of the Tories in this campaign to date was by the empty chair that stood in for James Cleverly on Kay Burley’s program!
Jo would be a good MP