"We have focused far too much on immigration, even though it is nowhere near top of voters' priorities. Repeatedly highlighting the issue seemed at best obsessive and at worst repellent."
Those words appeared in a straight-talking article from modernising MP John Bercow in this morning's Independent.
Mr Bercow also describes Michael Howard's 'Blair is a liar' jibe as "extraordinarily unwise". He continues: "It made us look nasty and played straight into Charles Kennedy's hands. It beggars belief that anyone could think that vulgar personal abuse of Tony Blair would make people decide to vote Tory."
And then, in his call for (1) an end to 'Punch and Judy politics' and (2) for Tories to make existing public services work - not provide an escape route from them, Mr Bercow chimes with a joint article in today's Times by Tory MPs Nick Gibb and Gary Streeter.
In that article, they write: (1) "We must eschew cynicism and when we agree with our opponents we should say so. We must not allow the thrill of joining Labour leftwingers in an attempt to defeat the Government to get in the way of what we believe." and (2) "The choice and competition approach has allowed us to develop policies that enable the middle class to escape public sector provision altogether. But it has also meant that the Tories have not been able to speak convincingly to the millions who have no choice but to wait impatiently on hospital waiting lists or see their children failing to reach their true potential in the local comprehensive."
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