The old and new faces of change?
In our latest lead review, Daily Mail political columnist Peter Oborne takes a second look at Dylan Jones’s much-maligned book of interviews with the Tory leader, Cameron on Cameron, and at Douglas Carswell & Daniel Hannan’s manifesto for Cameron’s Tories, The Plan: Twelve Months to Renew Britain. The Cameron that emerges from Oborne’s reading is far from the vacuous PR-man of popular criticism, although he is certainly a toff, a profoundly ambitious man, and a ruthless leader when he needs to be. The future of our country, he suggests, may be in the hands of a man with a very particular vision of conservatism, and of “a tradition of sceptical political enquiry that can be traced back to the origins of the Conservative party in the late 18th century.”
As to whether Cameron can or will deliver on such a vision—well, that remains to be seen. If Cameron’s core beliefs are followed to their logical conclusion, however, Oborne suggests that we could be in for some profound changes in the way the UK is governed. At the least, it seems, we will be in for battles rather than blandishments.
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It’s hysterical to read the efforts of Peter Oborne to do down Tony Blair. That seems to be all he lives for.
And his crits of these two books building up the vacuous David Cameron into a Blair Mark ll – without the ‘Blair’ bit or the numbering bit – provide Oborne with another vehicle for this unending and inevitably fruitless journey.
Why doesn’t he accept it’ll never work? He and Cameron are outclassed.
Almost ALL Oborne and these books claim as Dave’s were originally Tony’s as is clear here:
“This is to say that he has an abiding suspicion of the state, a corresponding faith in the importance of civic institutions and a scepticism about grand projects for social engineering.”
As for devolving power away from the centre – what nonsense is quoted by Oborne.
Would the Conservatives EVER have gone for referendums on devolution – power away from the centre? NO. Would they ever have started to reform and dismiss hereditary peers? No. I could continue this comparison into social policy such as Academies or the PFI projects, but this would fall on deaf ears, or blind eyes.
Oborne’s thoughts on the second book, “The Plan” are just as off-the-wall. They suggest almost everything that Blair has already done or put into action … and tbc … (by Brown or Cameron.)
For instance:
“They further maintain that there is a structural reason for this failure: Britain’s centralised model is doomed to be inefficient. The answer, they suggest, is to bring government much closer to the people through instruments like locally accountable schools, taxation policies and county sheriffs—in short, through a massive shift in power from a central state to local communities.”
There IS, I will concede him this point, some truth that power has gone away from people in some areas – notably these, imho:
“… to the executive, to unelected public bodies, to judges and elsewhere.”
Add to that the mouthy press with their opinions, analysis and habitual traducement, gathered often in biased ignorance.
And THESE below are useful, if hardly original thoughts, imho:
“…repeal of the Human Rights Acts and quangos made accountable to the public.”
Make Liberty and such accountable. Accountable to ANYBODY would be something other than the Liberal Intelligentsia. The (il)liberal intelligentsia, remember, are NOT, by any stretch of the imagination, friends of The Right.
At least Oborne recognises that Dave may have a little problem if he tries to be true to his party’s anti-Europe instincts.
This, their fault-line, may be about to crack open again, as I have written today at my blog.
http://keeptonyblairforpm.wordpress.com/2008/11/19/blair-sarkozy-conference-euroconomics/
I’ve read ‘The Plan’, and I’d strongly recommend it. I think the Direct Democracy platform for reviving British democracy is the most interesting and do-able political ‘-ism’ to emerge in years.