#con09: Some early thoughts on the Conservative Party conference
I'll blog in more depth on the Conservative Party conference tomorrow but some early thoughts for now:
In his speech today, David Cameron said: "We have been to conferences for the last 12 years to set out our policies." I'm not sure what he said next, as I was stunned by that sentence. The very reason why the Tories have only got a 12 point lead in the polls is because they haven't set out any policies for the last three years. Get real, mate.
In the same speech, he criticised Labour for focusing on the Tories rather than the outside world at their conference and insisted the Tories would not spend the week criticising Labour. Which, of course, he already had done, and then went on to do again.
Then on to Europe. On the Andrew Marr show, it was obvious that David Cameron can't actually deliver on his promise to have a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty if every other country has ratified it by then. But rather than just say "We'll have to make the best of it" he insists he won't speculate so as not to "prejudice decisions in the Czech Republic and Poland." Without meaning to be rude to Mr Cameron, would anything he say actually prejudice decisions in these countries? Can you name the opposition parties in these countries and, even if you can, would they make your prejudice a decision in this country?
As for Europe itself, on one hand, the Tories don't need to worry too much because I don't think it's an issue most people care about. If they did, UKIP would get a better show in elections than they do. That said, implode too much on this issue and it'll look as though Cameron isn't in control.
And finally, for now, when will the Tories realise that the biggest vote winner for Labour will be George Osborne? I know he can't help that sneer when he speaks, but it still looks as though he's, er, sneering about us when he speaks.
Over and out.
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David Higgerson - David Higgerson has covered local and national politics for much of his career as a journalist. This blog aims to look at Westminister from the outside in, at a time when it appears very few are looking out from the inside.
Couldn't agree more - Cyril Sneer is a liability for the Tories. But then again so is Dave and the whisperer himself Eric Pickles.
Instead of the straight talking he has promised, Dave is going all out to show himself to be the archetypal slippery politician.
But one thing which has impressed me at the Tory conference has been the hi-tech multimedia wall backdrop. Trouble is, on TV it looks like each speaker is about to jump from a rooftop.
Perhaps they are!
Love the Cyril Sneer reference and I agree with you, he could be a massive liability. Current opinion polls suggest just one in five Tory voters want him to be chancellor - that's hardly a ringing endorsement is it?