Comments
Let's see more of the Tory candidates please
2009-10-06 09:23:11
I didn't see much of the Tory Conference yesterday. I was locked away in a radio studio for most of the morning, doing interviews in advance of World Mental Health Day later this week. Then lunch with a former colleague before hopping on a (strangely quiet) train to Leeds, where I was doing a speech, time for a run and a quick bite to eat and that was the day pretty much gone.
So BBC Newsnight was my way of catching up, and there was a very telling moment during the programme. No, not Jeremy Paxman looking heavenwards and sneering at a politician, in this case Theresa May. That particular look is as much part of the programme as the titles. Nor was it Paxo's jovial exchange with Boris Johnson who, yes folks, really is as big a clown as he seems.
No, for me it was the moment when Michael Crick tried to quiz a number of candidates about their position on a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. I know the Tory line on Lisbon is far from clear, and that therefore these inexperienced would-be politicians might worry about a sustained interview on the subject, the likes of which their leader did not do very well at the weekend.
But what was extraordinary was that none of them could utter a word. The order had apparently gone out, nobody was to speak on Lisbon. So all we got were these mumbled dismissals of Mr Crick and, in one case, one of the wannabees pretending that David Cameron was calling him on the other side of the room.
But we also got the sense that these people were not really on the same planet as the people whose support they are seeking. And as they scuttled away to their next champagne reception, I was left realising that apart from a very small number of people at the top of the party, the country knows next to nothing about the people standing for the Tories at the election.
Newsnight gave us a tiny glimpse last night, which made me think this could be an election where local politics counts more than usual, and where candidates such as those we saw last night could become a serious liability.
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Cameron confused over indepdendence and impartialityPublish date: 2009-04-26 12:20:56
Guide ro Marathon running part 2Publish date: 2009-04-25 11:01:34
Good signals on coal and the OlympicsPublish date: 2009-04-24 10:45:28
Tips for the London MarathonPublish date: 2009-04-23 17:29:27
Missed the Budget, saw why it matteredPublish date: 2009-04-22 23:09:31
Football good, politics bad. AllegedlyPublish date: 2009-04-22 00:00:24
The Great Wall gets greaterPublish date: 2009-04-21 09:55:22
Two sides to police storyPublish date: 2009-04-20 11:39:54
Budgets, Balls, billionaires and Susan BoylePublish date: 2009-04-19 12:31:45
Do muscles have memories?Publish date: 2009-04-18 09:44:44
Bring back standing at footballPublish date: 2009-04-17 14:50:22
When Facebook friends fall outPublish date: 2009-04-16 12:29:16
Guardian sightings and the email and bath plug agendaPublish date: 2009-04-15 11:32:16
The spin is all in the prismPublish date: 2009-04-14 09:22:41
A setback, not a crisisPublish date: 2009-04-13 12:55:19
The real lessons from Damian McBridePublish date: 2009-04-12 10:49:47
Will English always be the dominant language?Publish date: 2009-04-11 10:02:02
On the pipes and what makes a ScotPublish date: 2009-04-10 11:06:20
John Prescott lazy? NO WAYPublish date: 2009-04-09 09:11:31
David Frost is seventyPublish date: 2009-04-08 08:48:38
The Speaker, BBC2, tonight and tomorrow 8pmPublish date: 2009-04-07 14:25:31
Obama, colds and being woken by Korean missilesPublish date: 2009-04-06 11:59:24
When a call matters more than protocolPublish date: 2009-04-05 11:33:42
Green Cities Champions LeaguePublish date: 2009-04-04 10:19:53
Could Cameron have delivered the G20 deal?Publish date: 2009-04-03 10:11:59
Of Benn and BonoPublish date: 2009-04-02 08:21:16
Memo to Sarko - allez vite a LondresPublish date: 2009-04-01 08:46:17
Happy April Fool's DayPublish date: 2009-04-01 01:44:05
Eurostar, Le Monde and a thought for the G20 sherpasPublish date: 2009-03-31 09:17:22
Why Kevin Rudd made an impactPublish date: 2009-03-30 10:24:41
Pre-G20 hype matters less than post-G20 processPublish date: 2009-03-29 13:17:28
The Damned UnitedPublish date: 2009-03-28 10:37:04
A hobby horse, a plug and a bit of sportPublish date: 2009-03-27 10:22:23
Cloughie - he had a lot to be big-headed aboutPublish date: 2009-03-26 09:38:36
A sad sight of the old fearing the youngPublish date: 2009-03-25 17:03:07
Post-modern, post-structural, or bullshit?Publish date: 2009-03-25 08:18:02
Learning the right lessons from ObamaPublish date: 2009-03-24 08:53:15
Lazy Dave needs to keep an eye on lazy KenPublish date: 2009-03-23 11:16:14
Farewell favourite restaurant, hello hometownPublish date: 2009-03-22 08:18:09
Dave, Danny and have the Tories really changed?Publish date: 2009-03-21 08:55:13
Life beyond Dover ...Publish date: 2009-03-20 10:11:21
My friends in The New Statesman - Fergie, Fiona, Tony, Sarah, Kevin, 'Dacre,' and a great GB idea for the G20Publish date: 2009-03-18 10:38:22
Iraq, Iran, GB, Obama and diplomatic chessPublish date: 2009-03-17 10:07:13
The Age of StupidPublish date: 2009-03-16 08:27:13
Is all change good?Publish date: 2009-03-15 10:00:06
The pressure of being a post-modern sex godPublish date: 2009-03-14 10:00:55
Cameron still hasn't sealed the deal with businessPublish date: 2009-03-13 09:21:49
Stand up for social workersPublish date: 2009-03-12 08:31:17
Surely Malcolm Tucker could have told Armando Ianucci ... You can't spin a spinnerPublish date: 2009-03-11 10:58:25
Start of a new approach from Labour?Publish date: 2009-03-10 09:54:12
A peace process still strongPublish date: 2009-03-09 08:21:05
Day of destiny for the real footballer of the yearPublish date: 2009-03-08 09:21:06
Private advice to Peggy Mitchell - the leaked note in fullPublish date: 2009-03-07 08:17:21
Boris, the Tories and the tummy-tickling poodle pressPublish date: 2009-03-06 09:49:37
A day in the life of the self-obsessed TV reporterPublish date: 2009-03-05 07:55:47
GB - good speech, well deliveredPublish date: 2009-03-04 19:31:05
Notes on the environment, a role in EastEndersPublish date: 2009-03-04 10:58:56
She may be my 'wife' but it is time to rebut!Publish date: 2009-03-03 10:52:59
Some speeches matter more than othersPublish date: 2009-03-02 12:04:45
Mental health and the Carling Cup FinalPublish date: 2009-03-01 09:08:17
Inside the chocolate factoryPublish date: 2009-02-28 10:23:59
GB on the G20, JP on Jeremy KylePublish date: 2009-02-27 09:14:36
Charity and the credit crunch, please give generously!Publish date: 2009-02-26 08:55:12
Why oh why are the Tories not home and dry?Publish date: 2009-02-24 09:44:59
Me, Dermot and ten top songsPublish date: 2009-02-23 10:02:19
Names round-upPublish date: 2009-02-22 08:43:39
What's in a name?Publish date: 2009-02-21 09:58:14
Editing the New StatesmanPublish date: 2009-02-20 11:42:36
Salute Peter M’s proper use of the F wordPublish date: 2009-02-19 09:58:58
Labour's communications challenge for the NHSPublish date: 2009-02-18 10:34:39
In praise of KeighleyPublish date: 2009-02-17 14:33:57
A night at the EmiratesPublish date: 2009-02-17 00:06:51
When marriage is testedPublish date: 2009-02-16 13:36:35
Spare me the myths and the whiningPublish date: 2009-02-15 13:29:50
Dave Cameron - is that all there is?Publish date: 2009-02-14 11:11:55
Boris Johnson: F is for ...Publish date: 2009-02-13 07:55:10
The Cameron vacuumPublish date: 2009-02-12 14:48:33
Lincoln, Obama, Blair and the 24 hour media culturePublish date: 2009-02-11 10:28:47
Eighteen interviews later ...Publish date: 2009-02-10 19:24:45
Time to talk about Time to Change on NewsnightPublish date: 2009-02-09 22:47:49
So that’s what they mean by online community?Publish date: 2009-02-08 12:12:51
First blogPublish date: 2009-02-05 15:23:57
Brian Hughes
2009-10-06 12:36:11Yes let's see much more of the Tories please! The more they pop up in public the fewer votes they're likely to attract.
David "Country Sports" Cameron got a pretty easy ride from a clearly nervous Evan Davies on Today this morning. Even so he managed to display no real grasp of his party's pension proposals - he didn't even know if the potential savings included or excluded women - and anyway the proposal turns out to be to hold a review. So no substantive proposal at all then.
As the US President is alleged to have remarked "what a lightweight"....
Freddo
2009-10-06 12:01:30I sometimes think that your naivety in media matters gets in the way of your analyses.
Michael Crick has an agenda. What you took from his package - a cosily reassuring anti-Tory message - was exactly what he wanted you - and YOU wanted YOU - to take.
It's a bit like saying, "Communism is right - even Fidel Castro says so!"
Once you've been in this game long enough, Alastair, you won't be so easily sucked in.
Freddo
2009-10-06 11:47:27Paxman was far too rude to Mr Johnson. What was all that calling him by his first name?
gary Enefer
2009-10-06 11:19:02Dear AC
I listened with great interest to a forum on Radio5 Live yesterday where ory politicians were quizzed by Manchester locals on the ratification of the lisbon Treaty and Job creation. One lady put it so well at the end of the debate she said she came in thinking she was going to vote Conservative and had changed her mind again. This was due to the fact that the audience could not get a yes or no answer on Lisbon and the Conservatives just wanted to play musical chairs with further education rather than creating jobs.
best wishes
gary
Charlie
2009-10-06 11:02:50AC. Have you got a Rapid Rebuttal for William Hague's list of Labour Achievements? (Hat-Tip Dizzy Thinks)
- GBP22,500 of debt for every child born in Britain
- 111 tax rises from a government that promised no tax rises at all
- The longest national tax code in the world
- 100,000 million pounds drained from British pension funds
- Gun crime up by 57%
- Violent crime up 70%
- The highest proportion of children living in workless households anywhere in Europe
- The number of pensioners living in poverty up by 100,000
- The lowest level of social mobility in the developed world
- The only G7 country with no growth this year
- One in six young people neither earning nor learning
- 5 million people on out-of -work benefits
- Missing the target of halving child poverty
- Ending up with child poverty rising in each of the last three years instead
- Cancer survival rates among the worst in Europe
- Hospital-acquired infections killing nearly three times as many people as are killed on the roads
- Falling from 4th to 13th in the world competitiveness league
- Falling from 8th to 24th in the world education rankings in maths
- Falling from 7th to 17th in the rankings in literacy
- The police spending more time on paperwork than on the beat
- Fatal stabbings at an all-time high
- Prisoners released without serving their sentences
- Foreign prisoners released and never deported
- 7 million people without an NHS dentist
- Small business taxes going up
- Business taxes raised from among the lowest to among the highest in Europe
- Tax rises for working people set for after the election
- The 10p tax rate abolished
- And the ludicrous promise to have ended boom and bust
- Our gold reserves sold for a quarter of their worth
- Our armed forces overstretched and under-supplied
- Profitable post offices closed against their will
- One of the highest rates of family breakdown in Europe
- The 'Golden Rule' on borrowing abandoned when it didn't fit
- Police inspectors in 10,Downing Street
- Dossiers that were dodgy
- Mandelson resigning the first time
- Mandelson resigning the second time
- Mandelson coming back for a third time
- Bad news buried
- Personal details lost
- An election bottled
- A referendum denied
olli issakainen
2009-10-06 10:50:48Lackluster performances so far - apart from "Bozza" - from Manchester. These men don´t have any substance in them. Of course the "media hyenas" think they are the best thing since sliced bread.
David
2009-10-06 10:27:50Your point that the electorate doesn't know who the Tories really are is a good one - and more needs to be done to expose the true nature of the beast. I read somewhere there are 15 'Old Etonians' on Camerons front bench, which to my mind is hardly representative of the British electorate.
Adi Whittington
2009-10-06 10:26:35Cameron does seem to be doing the rounds today over and above his Burlingdon Club 'oik' Osborne on what's supposed to be his day...
thought he (Cameron) had a pretty easy ride on FiveLive this morning - no mention of Europe...
Nick
2009-10-06 10:17:22How about "Lets see more of the last Labour Party manifesto please" ?
You know. The one in which Blair/Brown PROMISED the British people a referendum on the EU treaty.
@jlocke13
2009-10-06 10:09:03...."I know the Tory line on Lisbon is far from clear...."
It is perfectly clear to me...If the Tories are in power before the treaty is ratified by all members there will be a referendum.. If it is ratified before the Tories are in power then they will look at the available options...which part of that do you find difficult to understand? now who was it that promised a referendum in his manifesto?..ah yes I remember none other than your friend Gordon Brown...
Helene Pearson
2009-10-06 10:07:48Paxman was far too chummy with Johnson.What was all that calling him by his first name? Rude and agressive except when he has blond Tories on maybe?
CArole Harper
2009-10-06 10:06:32IS it not interesting that even though he has a problem with his voice, Cameron is doing all the interviews on Osborne's big day. Could that be because the Tories know that the public see Osborne as even more of a toffee-nosed publicschool boy than Cameron who is ... you know the rest
Max from Musselburgh
2009-10-06 10:04:39I think it helps to seee more of Cameron too. Just heard him say he went hunting. They have not changed one iota.
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