The important article on ToryDiary about hares and tortoises has spawned similar articles in the newspapers every day since it was posted last Thursday, continuing today with Iain Martin's piece. In case you missed it, it concerns a difference of opinion over Tory strategy in the run-up to the next election. According to ToryDiary, the chelonian position is as follows:
"[The tortoises] believe that Brown is finished. They believe that Northern Rock, in particular, is fast eroding the Prime Minister's reputation for economic competence. They do not want to risk the Tories' strong position in the opinion polls..."
The leporid counter-argument runs thus:
"[the hares] note that the Tories need a seismic shift in order for the party to form a parliamentary majority but that opinion polls point to a defeat for Labour rather than a much larger shift. They say that the Tories need to give electors some big reasons to vote for them rather than the LibDems."
As ToryDiary insists, this is a gentle though serious debate. It is one that the inner-circle needs to have as it prepares for the next two years. It is essential, however, that 'tortoise' and 'hare' aren't seen as respective synonyms for 'moderniser' and 'traditionalist', let alone 'left' and 'right'.
Even though the article identifies the Conservative leader as the tortoise-in-chief, the great Cameron breakthrough of the last two years has hardly been characterised by caution. Rather, we have seen breathtaking boldness on supposedly high-risk issues such as social justice, the environment and civil liberties. To paraphrase Winston Churchill: some tortoise, some neck!
In any case, isn't the idea of taking it easy while Gordon Brown self-destructs something you'd expect from the hare?
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