Most Tory members think David Cameron is too cautious. In this week's leader (not yet online), The Spectator offers three arguments for believing that the Tory leader might be more radical than some believe:
- On localism: "The ending of Whitehall capping powers and the introduction of local referendums to enable residents to overturn bad budgets would be a very desirable transference of financial control from the mandarin to the man in the street. The removal of disincentives to build houses, the devolution of planning power, the plans to plough the fruits of local businesses back into the community, the proposed statutory presumption enabling town halls to act in the best interests of their voters, even if no specific legislation supports their actions: all these measures, if matched by serious political will, would be significant steps towards the growth of a genuine localist culture." [I worry, however, that only controlling instincts have been on show in opposition].
- On schools: "The Spectator has pressed, and will continue to press, for more grammar schools. But the Conservatives’ plan to adopt the Swedish model of independent schools, enabling parents, voluntary groups and businesses to establish their own educational establishments funded by vouchers, is a truly radical blueprint which we support wholeheartedly. The Swedish experiment has shown how the liberalisation of public services can triumph where top-down, centralised bureaucracies and targets have failed." Definitely. Michael Gove is the most oustanding member of Mr Cameron's team.
- On marriage and the family: "On the family, Mr Cameron is much more radical than his recent predecessors, daring to state explicitly what is empirically obvious: that the family is the fundamental building-block of any social order and requires unambiguous support from government. On the Broken Society, he has faced down those in his party nervous of speaking the truth about welfare dependency, addiction, dysfunctional families and forgotten communities." Mr Cameron says he's a "marriage nut" and ConHome welcomes that but we've yet to see policies that are up to the job of addressing the scale of the problem.
The area where radicalism is most going to be required is, of course, on the economy. When will the Tory leadership tell us how it will restore order to Gordon Brown's terrible fiscal position? A serious programme to control spending will almost certainly necessitate radical reform of the state.
Tim Montgomerie
Oh yeah, really radical. On the Lisbon Treaty: if it's been ratified 'we won't leave matters there'. Gosh, what a hero.
Posted by: David | February 18, 2009 at 16:52
On Local authorities, we must have the courage to set councils free to make their mistakes, and then to let them live with the consequences. This will result in better local authorities in the medium term. In the meantime we have to be brave enough to sit on our hands while mistakes are made. We also need to be brave enough to say that our intervention in Liverpool etc in the past was a mistake.
On Education, whether you call it grammar schools or not is irrelevant. What we need is education appropriate to the locality. Not everyone can be or wants to be a rocket scientist. For goodness sake recognise this and teach practical skills where appropriate. Key to all this though must be the removal of vested interests that will torpedo progress. The GTC, local education authorities and the school inspectorate must go. The latter replaced with something that addresses teaching standards in general rather than prescriptive menus.
Finally,DC has stated the obvious. Marriage is the building block of society. Never mind that many people cannot make it work, that is no excuse for marginalising it. We must encourage people to make a go of it and that will require recognistion through the tax system and a review of the divorce laws.
Posted by: Stewart Geddes | February 18, 2009 at 16:56
I hope so.
Posted by: Deborah | February 18, 2009 at 17:09
Cameron should commit now that when he is Prime Minister of 'Britain' (virtually England and England alone) that the Conservatives will hold referenda on:
An English Parliament.
and
EUSSR 'MEMBERSHIP'.
Oh and should scrap the McBarnett formula too.
Posted by: Steve | February 18, 2009 at 17:11
If Cameron takes us out of the EU he will have my total support.
Posted by: Robert Eve | February 18, 2009 at 17:25
The three areas of radicalism are all ones I personally applaud. I concur with those who are awaiting a radical approach to the EU instead of the soft;y-softly don''t-wake-the-baby stance he has now. He'll have to tell us what 'Not letting it rest there' actually means before June.
But Tim, you're so right; the economy is the overriding issue and one prays - with little confidence - that he'll be radical there too.
Posted by: christina Speight | February 18, 2009 at 17:25
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, Euro-bores are SO dam' dull! Every single question is dragged back to the same Euro-balls OFTEN WITH WORDS IN CAPITALS...
Please, go and start UKIP-Home and leave the rest of us in peace to look at a range of issues, policies, challenges and options. You know, like grown ups do.
Posted by: Floreat Aula | February 18, 2009 at 17:34
I agree, if David Cameron added 'leave the EU' to those excellent ideas you've already mentioned, and if he managed to put those things into practice, he'd be well well on the way to becoming a Conservative legend.
Posted by: Steve Tierney | February 18, 2009 at 17:34
sadly, the UK plc needs a radical to get it out of the current economic and social mess being experienced
the UK has always stood out as the greatest, most inclusive and most decent democratic society in the developed world (many can argue that the US is still closet racist in many ways)
but to stamp out political corruption (bribes, taking advantage of government subsidies for personal means and short-termist personal-agenda decision-making), social divisions, the mediocritisation of the UK schooling system, the collapse of the public health offering in spite of the massive funding provided (or squandered), the property speculator culture, and the gross lack of decency being encouraged thru media broadcasters.. only a radical will be able to resolve all these
Posted by: ernest james | February 18, 2009 at 17:44
When will some of you get it into your heads? Dave is not going to take us out of Europe. His appointment of Ken Clarke is more evidence that this is not going to happen.
Posted by: josh | February 18, 2009 at 17:45
Floreat Aula - if you ignore them they might stop banging the drum and clashing the cymbals, put them down and go and play with the train set in the far corner instead!!
Posted by: Sally Roberts | February 18, 2009 at 17:50
"The area where radicalism is most going to be required is, of course, on the economy."
The problem is that Cameron isn't offering genuine cuts in government spending, just cuts in planned Labour increases. The public sector needs to be reduced significantly. That is my main concern...
Posted by: AJJM | February 18, 2009 at 17:58
The policy on top slicing the BBC licence fee is also very wadical.
Posted by: Felicity Mountjoy | February 18, 2009 at 18:13
The problem is that how can anyone know what Cameron would do if he became Prime Minister ? All his speeches are tailored to the particular audience in front of him at that time as he tries to be all things to all men. Typical of the light-weight PR person he remains. Perhaps if he showed a little more political maturity and courage -both qualities which he sadly lacks for the moment - we could have more confidence in him.
Posted by: JS | February 18, 2009 at 18:19
aula: the anterior part of the third ventricle of the brain leading to the lateral ventricles
Posted by: bill | February 18, 2009 at 18:48
Q: Is David Cameron a secret Radical?
A: errr...no
Posted by: Mark Shillaker | February 18, 2009 at 18:54
No.
Posted by: obviously | February 18, 2009 at 18:56
No, but his true EU intentions are radically secret.
:-)
Let's face it, we'll all be so glad to see the back of New Labour, but Cameron is going to be a large disappointment. It seems that he has finally found a way to halt the growth of irksome sites like ConHome; by winning power!
Posted by: GB£.com | February 18, 2009 at 19:04
Floreat Aula @ 17:34 I entirely agree.
Can the Kippers and Uber-Sceptic Cavemen please, for once, chill out!
Cameron is obviously radical, it is one of the reasons he's going to be the PM after the nightmare is over.
Posted by: Conand | February 18, 2009 at 19:04
It is difficult to really say what Cameron is because he changes his mind so often and bends one way or another depending on the latest opinion poll.
It astonishes me that anyone thinks that a party that as serious ambitions to govern this country is going to take us out of the EU. Its only fringe parties like UKIP who will never hold power of any sort can promise such nonsense because they do not have any real ambitions to gain power.
Posted by: Jack Stone | February 18, 2009 at 19:16
He's on the radical side of the social democratic spectrum - so not very radical.
We shouldn't marvel that even social democratic Sweden has such a "radical" model of education. Social democratic Sweden has such a model, because the model is social democratic.
It is not an example of radical liberalisation.
Posted by: Tom H | February 18, 2009 at 19:16
I think the Conservatives would only win the full, wholehearted approval of the people by introducing a repeal of the laws since 1997.
A Party can not govern without the will of the people. If Labour continues in office, the people will riot. If the Conservatives follow the 'same direction but by a different path' (DC) the people will riot.
We are a very unhappy nation.
Posted by: Susan | February 18, 2009 at 19:36
'A serious programme to control spending will almost certainly necessitate radical reform of the state.'
I believe and hope Cameron is a radical as we cannot afford to carry on with the same old solutions -- they do not work!!!
Posted by: Richard Calhoun | February 18, 2009 at 19:40
We need the repeal of all Acts since 1997. That's radical.
Posted by: Susan | February 18, 2009 at 19:45
DC's a very secret radical. So secret he'll never ever let the secret out.
More in the mold of Heath I'd say.
Posted by: cosmic | February 18, 2009 at 20:01
if you ignore them they might stop banging the drum and clashing the cymbals, put them down and go and play with the train set in the far corner
Hmm. Who's being childish here - the people who want to discuss one of the most important issues of the day, the UK's relationship with a nearby would-be superpower, a superpower which creates many if not most of the laws British people live by and yet has almost no democratic accountability;
or the people who just want to suppress all debate?
"La la la, not listening to you!!"
Posted by: Alex Swanson | February 18, 2009 at 20:19
if you ignore them they might stop banging the drum and clashing the cymbals, put them down and go and play with the train set in the far corner
Hmm. Who's being childish here - the people who want to discuss one of the most important issues of the day, the UK's relationship with a nearby would-be superpower, a superpower which creates many if not most of the laws British people live by and yet has almost no democratic accountability;
or the people who just want to suppress all debate?
"La la la, not listening to you!!"
Posted by: Alex Swanson | February 18, 2009 at 20:21
Including the minimum wage Act Susan? the 'i'm alright Jack' Tory attitude still sits amongst some of the members of the party. Shame on you.
Posted by: josh | February 18, 2009 at 21:30
Instead of thinking about your own narrow interests Josh, how about RIPA or the Civil Contingencies Act?
Posted by: Susan | February 18, 2009 at 21:56
"Jesus, Mary and Joseph, Euro-bores are SO dam' dull! Every single question is dragged back to the same Euro-balls OFTEN WITH WORDS IN CAPITALS...
Please, go and start UKIP-Home and leave the rest of us in peace to look at a range of issues, policies, challenges and options. You know, like grown ups do.
Posted by: Floreat Aula | February 18, 2009 at 17:34 "
They claim to have a forum of their own but don't trust it because it needs a membership number. Let us not intrude upon their private grief.
Posted by: Super Blue | February 18, 2009 at 22:47
Dangerously so. He needs to come clean now on whether he'll do anything insane like pulling us out of the EU - I don't know anybody who would be prepared to vote Tory without a categorical assurance that we would continue as members.
Posted by: John Smith | February 18, 2009 at 22:49
It seems Mr Cameron is radical, to a point, in the areas pointed to in this post – localism, schools and supporting marriage etc,
But on foreign policy, the EU, and in fighting for freedoms being lost under Labour? No.
As for these feedoms (speech, religion and conscience etc), they define a free nation, and we fought WW2 and later withstood communism to defend them, but are now being eroded on the grounds of ‘diversity’, and Labour’s obsession with enforcing the gay rights agenda, protecting Islam, and curbing Christianity.
The promise to cancel the ID cards is good, but have there been promises to destroy the database that will snoop on our phonecalls and emails? Nothing less than this, and restoring basic freedoms of speech, religion and conscience, will be needed if Mr Cameron is to be “radical”.
But the evidence so far (siding against the freedom of Catholic adoption agencies, and the timid response to the exclusion of Mr Wilders) points to policy little different from Labour. It sometimes seems to me that not offending the BBC and the rest of the liberal-left media is more important than standing for freedom.
Posted by: Philip | February 18, 2009 at 22:53
>>Can the Kippers and Uber-Sceptic Cavemen please, for once, chill out!<<
The amazing thing about free speech is that people can express their views, even if you don't like them.
The amazing thing about ConHome is that it states quite clearly that it is a "broad" church that welcomes all strands of Conservative opinion.
The amazing thing about the people who call those of us who dont agree with them "Cavemen" is how weak an argument must be that you need to resort to insults instead of debate.
Grow up. And if you want to stifle honest member's rights to speak, you might try one of the Labour sites. They're more into that stuff, I hear.
I'd love one of ConHomes "polls" to ask the simple question "IN or OUT of the EU" with no qualifications. If 50% or more of members said "out" (which is my suspicion) that would hopefully shut up the self-important pompous asses who think its clever to snipe at other member's opinions in such a derogatory way.
I, like many loyal tories, am happy to support the current status quo. If I weren't I'd have joined UKIP by now. But ultimately, I hope and pray that our mindset changes. I'll certainly be working towards that aim in my own political aspirations.
Posted by: Steve Tierney | February 18, 2009 at 23:20
I think Susan's suggestion is a good idea.
I have started thinking not so much what does Cameron do thats right but rather what should he be doing that he isnt. He comes out a lot less well from that. Yes, I appreciate the difficulty of being "radical" (radically conservative is what I want) in opposition but the signs really arent good.
In my view it is time to gove someone else a try - what we really need is someone who cares very passionatly about our country and is implacably determined. John Redwood can supply the intelligence.
Surely the Conservative party can do better than Cameron?
Posted by: Francis | February 18, 2009 at 23:34
Those half-wits who can't see that the overriding issue if we can once get the economy working again is whether or not we chuck away the rest of our independence with the EU Constitution (aka the Lisbon Treaty). The German constitutional court doesn't think it a trivial issue. The Irish wouldn't have it once so they are made to vote again and similarly the French and the Dutch.
I am no UKIPper but in common with all the EU's own polling I am part of the majority here who feel that the EU has not been beneficial to Britain.
All those in denial above want to bury their heads in the sands perhaps they should ask themselves if it would have been 12 years in the wilderness if the Tories had been more pro-Britain in those years. UKIP only exists because of the utter stupidity of the Tories.
Posted by: christina Speight | February 19, 2009 at 00:10
How about radically pedalling back the database state? Removing the majority of CCTV cameras which make us the most watched nation on earth - to the extent that China is using US as their surveillance model? Throwing out any hint of the NIR? Destroying DNA retained from innocent citizens? Destroying the ContactPoint database, CAF and all it implies? Ripping apart RIPA? Making people's medical records inaccessible to 300,000+ civil servants? By not automatically tracking each and every car? Throwing out Section 8 Cl. 152 of the Justice Bill and all clauses like it? Preventing liberty-eroding measures being implemented through Statutory Instrument rather than Parliamentary scrutiny? A referendum on the Lisbon treaty? Demanding a full enquiry into Labour's dealings with the CIA re Guantanamo in particular and Special Rendition in general? Investigating ACPO; preventing a private for-profit company to carry out police work? Making MPs' expenses more accessible? A full enquiry into the Iraq war? A return to freedom of speech; a destruction of the proposed legislation that will make it illegal for civil servants to even mention religion? These would be radical measures indeed.
Posted by: Mara MacSeoinin | February 19, 2009 at 01:35
"Please, go and start UKIP-Home"
No-one would be that silly. ;-)
Posted by: GB£.com | February 19, 2009 at 07:12
I will only be convinced that David Cameron is a radical if he accepts the logic of the end of the unitary British state and the half completed, Bliarite botch up of national devolution within the United Kingdom and recognises that this implies a national parliament and a national government for England within the UK.
It is the only way to preserve the United Kingdom. The present policy of doggedly trying to deny the obvious fact of England's huge democratic deficit and persisting with the myth of "Britain"- not even Great Britain -is the propaganda of the political class of a dying construct attempting to kid itself that all is as it was when it patently obviously isn't. Shades of the USSR in the 1980's.
Mr Cameron has the golden opportunity and the electoral time to grab this and make it his own. It will mean a radical policy U turn but so what.
If the Conservatives wish to gain that overwhelming momentum which they still have not really cemented into position and never will until they address England AS England then they need to state right now that, when elected, they will hold a referendum in England very like the one in Scotland of 1997, on the topic of an English parliament and self rule.
Labour must be marginalised. They are not yet. This is the radical way to do it.
Posted by: Jake | February 19, 2009 at 10:30
"If Cameron takes us out of the EU he will have my total support."
Don't hold your breath. I too would be delighted if he was to show some real backbone and take us out.
"He's on the radical side of the social democratic spectrum"
Exactly hardly a radical in any sense.
Posted by: Ross Warren | February 19, 2009 at 10:39