Wednesday 19 December 2012

Easy To Please

Cameron has given a speech to the Tory 1922 committee, designed to enthuse his supporters who are troubled by incompetence and falling poll ratings. By most Tory accounts this speech seems to have gone down well:
There were plenty of smiles and a sustained period of traditional ‘desk-banging’ for the PM at the end of the committee, but this wasn’t the Big Speech.
Interestingly though Cameron said:
So he tried to cheer them with a promise that the Tories would go into the election with a genuine distinctive argument on Europe, and a genuinely eurosceptic offer.
"A genuine distinctive argument on Europe", given the man is a committed and passionate Europhile...I can't wait to see what great dollop of fudge he will pull out of the hat. The Spectator already allude to the farce that it will be (maybe without knowing it):
The big challenge for Cameron in this speech is for him to meet his party’s expectations without over-promising in a way that leaves him no wriggle room.
The wriggle room will obviously be, trying to pull off the trick of pretending to repatriate powers while keeping the status quo if not more integration.

Sorry but I can't get into this 'desk-banging' nonsense when I'm being lied to. Perhaps it's just me?

6 comments:

  1. From what I've read Cameron is definitely pro EU, so I'll hold my breath.

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  2. I'm sure the Bilderbergers will tell him exactly what to say .

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  3. Cameron's got two problems:

    To convince the Tory brass that he's the best hope they've got.

    To convince the Tory followers that he's pissed off over various things such as the Cast Iron Promise and lately the gay marriage debacle, that his promises are worth anything and that he's remotely likely to be in office to deliver them. So he's got to call back the UKIP defectors and inspire those who've just disengaged to support him. Probably the main thing is to stop more withdrawal.

    What I gather from this is that dumping a leader mid-term should normally be a no-no, but because of the mess he's making, the balance between taking a hit on getting rid of him and taking the hit inherent in keeping him isn't quite so clear cut.

    I'd say another problem is that the Tory brass are basically in favour of trying to sell the traditional Tory dummy pass on 'Europe' andnthey haven't thought the position through. The Tories' problems don't begin and end with Cameron.

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  4. At the 2001 election the Tories promised to keep the pound for one parliament, but only in the last few days of campaigning. This is their credential for being "eurosceptic".

    Under Cameron they have not changed, and will not change. I will only begin to trust the Tories when there is a large dollop of humility on their part - they need it.

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  5. The Tories need to give,not offer but actually give the country an in/out referendum on the EU or they are going to lose a lot of votes to UKIP next time round.(me included)
    The thing is though, if Cast Iron Dave actually gave us a referendum on the EU before the next GE he`d instantly neutralise UKIP and quite possibly take the next GE by a landslide and the fact that he wont do it makes me think he`s nothing more than an EU stooge.

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  6. @Andy, Cameron is a certainly an EU stooge. You're right if there was a promise with real substance then it could negate the Ukip threat.

    I would disagree with the 'winning by a landslide' point though. The Tories have an uphill struggle for many reason not least because the electoral system is weighed against them. They need a 7% lead in order to win a 1 seat majority - any referendum promise will give them a boost but is unlikely to give them the lead necessary for a landslide.

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