A Government worth having

Yesterday's Times leader marked the beginning of a new phase in David Cameron's leadership.  Although the leader communicated a dissatisfaction with what the Conservative Party presently has to offer, The Times also communicated the fact that the Tories are now seen as the Government-in-waiting.  With that comes a lot more scrutiny.

David Cameron has responded today and welcomes that scrutiny although his article does not fully address The Times' concern that the Conservative Party has yet to enthuse the nation or address some of its biggest challenges.

Over the next two weeks ConservativeHome will be launching a special ten part feature: A Government worth having.  Next week we will publish a daily essay on five areas of policy where the Conservatives are close to having policies that are as bold as the challenges are great.  Michael Gove will be writing about schools, Nick Herbert about crime, Maria Miller about the family, Chris Grayling about welfare and Greg Clark about civil society and the voluntary sector.

The following week we will be examining the areas where the party still needs to do much more.

David Cameron has already done an enormous about to build 'a Government worth having'.  But the mess that Brown will leave - and he may operate a scorched earth policy over the next two years - will require a Conservative Government of considerable intellectual and moral preparation.

Comments

[Norm Brainer]

Don't say too much too early or they'll copycat!

Every month that brown stays in may make it even longer that labour will be in the wilderness (hopefully they'll die off), but it will be another month of orwellifcation to undo before any decent progress can be made.

[Martin Cole]

A "government in waiting" in present circumstance would be foolish indeed to spell out any policy detail based upon the delusions of the present cabinet.

The aircraft carriers to be announced today are a good case in point. This is all part and parcel of the EU Imperial myth that has almost, if not already, bankrupted the nation.

The Conservatives must get real, brandish the CIA debt figures for Britain which almost equals that of the USA which given the personal debt figures of our much smaller population quite clearly spells disaster.

Stop dreaming you are about to govern a nation with either sovereignty or policy options and spell out how you plan to overcome the building disaster.

I wait the reaction of the opposition to the Carrier announcement with interest. What have the French done?

[Helen]

I'll also be interested to hear how such matters as the new border police will be accomplished, given the two Tampere agreements on the subject that this country has signed up to and the relevant articles in the Constitutional ... woops ... Lisbon Treaty. Some realism of what is and what is not EU competence will be very welcome.

[Ken Stevens]

Norm Brainer
"Don't say too much too early or they'll copycat!"

I think the central theme of the Times leader was enthuse, inspire, show vision, lead. That has to be injected into the electorate's psyche somewhat before an election campaign. Now would be a good time to start.

The grand objectives in the various major policy areas can be evolved and hammered home to the populace repeatedly. If that resulted in Brown pinching one or two detailed aspects thereof in his final days, then simply welcome & embrace them (trumpeting how they originated, of course) as accelerating progress towards their attainment under a Tory government.

Too much of modern politics is management by committee, resulting in policies that least displease the slightly greater number, rather than inspire the majority. Strong leadership listens attentively to the various strands of opinion and then firmly and clearly resolves the direction to go. It's no good firing from the hip on something, only to realise some pitfalls later and have to draw back. Yes, a general has to be ready to cope with unforeseeable obstacles en route but that is a different thing from Grand Old Duke of York posturings.

Personally, I think that this policy development in public is symptomatic of the problem. Taking the recent example of Kenneth Clarke's EVEL proposals. Immediately Sir Malcolm Rifkind counters with a modification. David Cameron is reported to be 'minded' to take on the proposal. And so newspapers report a Tory split!

All this should have been thrashed out as an internal matter and the resolved outcome then publicised. I'm not suggesting that deliberations could or should be kept entirely under wraps and without consulting inside and outside the party but it is somewhat less newsworthy to report that there was a range of opinion expressed at an internal meeting.

On the EU, this Tory 'broad church' is in danger of emulating the Anglicans. Can't you all be locked away somewhere, with much secret bloodletting until only the victors emerge alive?!

[Richard Calhoun]

The major task of the new Conservative government will be tackle the financial disaster that they will be presented with by the Civil Service.

I do hope they are preparing for this nightmare scenario because its not a possibility any more it's a fact.

[Alan S]

The positioning of Times leaders on p2 each day certainly gives them more impact.

[Votedave]

I wish people had more patience with this sort of thing. Policy making cannot be done overnight. Circumstances and time dictate priorities which may be different in 2010 to what they are now.
We will prove by the next election, unlike Labour, that we take time to think things through. More haste and less speed. Back the tortoise. A Conservative manifesto WILL be published in due course!

[Ken Stevens]

There you are, Frank Field's starter for ten:

Government must be cut down to size
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2008/07/04/do0402.xml

Why isn't this man a shadow minister in the Conservative Party?

[Helen]

"On the EU, this Tory 'broad church' is in danger of emulating the Anglicans. Can't you all be locked away somewhere, with much secret bloodletting until only the victors emerge alive?!"

As someone who has never belonged to the Conservative Party and has no intention of joining it but would like to see a sensible, genuinely right-wing government, I find that comment odd. Do you mean one should not discuss or even enumerate what is EU competence, simply go there blindly and find that most proposals cannot be put through because the British government is not in charge? That is known as campaigning on false pretences. Let me give you an example. Is it not time to come out into the open about VAT and acknowledge that the elected British government can do nothing about lowering it?

[Ken Stevens]

Helen
I'm actually a Europhobe and an English Parliamentarian (or some other proper equitable solution)!

Without, in this instance, me trying to make points in those respects, I was simply emphasising (admittedly a little hyperbolically)that one needed to know the agreed party line in order to know whether to vote for them.

[Helen]

"Helen
I'm actually a Europhobe and an English Parliamentarian (or some other proper equitable solution)!

Without, in this instance, me trying to make points in those respects, I was simply emphasising (admittedly a little hyperbolically)that one needed to know the agreed party line in order to know whether to vote for them."

I have absolutely no idea what a Europhobe is. However, an agreed party line that is based on completely wrong/erroneous/deliberately misleading information about competences is not much use to anyone.

[Francis]

Surely it's the case that the Times is an apologist for Socialism and nothing that the Conservatives do will ever satisfy it and the appointment of Mr Finkelstein (who has more cause than most, I suspect, to resent anti-Tory media bias) as chief leader writer has not lead to any change in this.