Tuesday, February 28, 2006

The great Tory U-turn

It would be devastatingly easy to take the piss out of David Cameron's Statement of Aims and Values published today.

Briefly summarised, the statement reveals that the Tories believe in a strong economy, stable communities, caring for the environment, trusting people, and representing modern Britain. Oh, and they believe in society again, too.

So, motherhood and apple pie, then. Scarcely worthy you would think of the lead item on the 10 o'clock news or, come to that, lead item on Guido Fawkes' blog.

Except that the amazing thing is, as Danny Finkelstein put it on Newsnight last night, that for years and years and years, the Tories didn't believe in motherhood and apple pie.

The really interesting thing about this document, the measure of the extent to which the Tories had lost touch with modern Britain, is that it was necessary for an allegedly serious political party to have to make such a statement in the first place.

So don't be tempted take the piss. By finally rejoining the real world, the Tories have performed their greatest Tory U-turn since the Lady said she was not for turning.

March 2 update: The Guardian's Ben Rooney has included the fifth paragraph of this post in his daily roundup of what's on the web. Fame at last!

Issues mainstream politics is ignoring: 1. Long haul travel.

There's a definite mood in the air at the moment - from Prince Charles' railing against the prevailing political consensus to the stark findings of the Power Inquiry - that mainstream politics is manifestly failing to address certain long-term issues facing the country and indeed the planet.

Here's a good example of what I mean from George Monbiot in today's Guardian on the question of whether unlimited growth in commercial aviation is in any way compatible with the need to tackle global warming.

I have a personal pet theory that eventually the world will be forced to bite the bullet on this and that long-haul air travel will ultimately either be outlawed or become once again the preserve of the super-rich.

No sign of this from our present political leaders though who insist that the construction of a fifth runway at Heathrow Airport and the development of Stansted, Manchester and other regional airports in no way detracts from their "commitment" to the environment.

March 1 Update: John Humphreys must have been reading Monbiot (or even this blog..!) because he asked David Cameron about this very point on this morning's Today Programme. Cameron accused him of trying to set up a "false choice" between growth and greenery, arguing that investment in new technology would solve the problem. In fact as Monbiot points out, switching aircraft fuel from kerosene to hydrogen would produce so much water vapour it would probably make the "greenhouse effect" even worse.

Monday, February 27, 2006

Brown in fair votes hint as Liberty Central goes live

New pro-constitutional reform website Liberty Central has gone live today, by happy coincedence on the day an important new report is published on the future of politics.

The authors of the Power Inquiry argue that we have fallen out of love with "democracy" and that without a major shake-up of the system, politics will effectively die.

Not surprisingly Gordon Brown has been swift to recognise the importance of this and has given an interview to the Guardian in which he backs giving the vote to 16-year-olds and - incredibly significant in my view - opens the door for a fresh look at electoral reform.

All in all a very auspicious beginning for this welcome new addition to the political blogosphere.

A missed opportunity for the Lib Dems

Good piece by Andrew Rawnsley in yesterday's Observer on the Lib Dem leadership contest and why it has been a bit of a missed opportunity for the party to thrash out some of its strategic dilemmas.

Andrew correctly makes the point that all three candidates have shied away from confronting the most difficult policy issues and instead concentrated on seeking to prove themselves the most experienced (Campbell) the most passionate (Hughes) or the cleverest (Huhne.)

I didn't really expect a lot more from Campbell or Hughes but as a supporter of Chris Huhne I thought he would be much more radical than he has been, like setting out a distinctive political direction instead of banging on about his six years in the European Parliament all the time.

I am increasingly convinced that the Lib Dems should have followed the Tories' example and had a six-month contest which would have enabled a much more searching debate to take place.

Charles: Should he speak out - or shut up?

I devoted my column and accompanying podcast this week to the issue of Prince Charles's political involvement.

Although I have a great deal of sympathy with the Prince in his railing against the prevailing political consensus, as a monarchist I am concerned about the potential longer-term implications of this.

"The bottom line is that as long as Charles continues to involve himself in issues of political controversy, it will be used by some as a stick to beat him with. The position of the Monarchy is not so strong that it can withstand that sort of criticism on an ongoing basis."

A contrasting and perhaps rather more eloquent view came from Simon Jenkins in yesterday's Sunday Times.

Friday, February 24, 2006

Get on with it, Blair!

Tony Blair today announced he is to create a Cabinet-level minister for social exclusion in his speech to the Scottish Labour Conference.

Unfortunately he didn't enlighten us as to who it is going to be, further prolonging what is fast becoming the most protracted reshuffle in recent political history.

This clearly would have come as a surprised to the normally impeccably well-informed Guardian pol ed-elect Patrick Wintour, who wrote in this morning's paper that the appointment was to be made today. Predictably this story no longer appears on the Guardian site having been replaced by a reaction piece saying charities are welcoming the announcement.

The hot money is still on Hazel Blears, but I reckon it's about time Mr Blair put her out of her misery.