Observing David Cameron address his party in Manchester yesterday, you might not have guessed that this is a Prime Minister with a perilously slim majority, or a politician who has, as it were, pre-announced his departure. The Conservative faithful, granting their leader a series of standing ovations, also seemed to overlook these details.
Mr Cameron was philosophical; he was expansive; he was above all confident. This was, in a Tory sort of way, the Prime Minister’s five-year plan for Britain and its architect expects no opposition worth the name. Or so he would have us believe.
Mr Cameron’s majority remains just 12. That is the smallest advantage given to a government since October 1974. The Conservatives have already been forced to retreat over human rights, “English votes for English laws”, and hunting. Undaunted, the Prime Minister told us that four new Trident submarines “will” be ordered; that 200,000 new houses “will” be built; and that the drive to secure a budget surplus will continue.
In one regard, this was a tricky performance for Mr Cameron. How to stage the traditional attacks on Labour’s credibility while promoting the belief that the Opposition has all but ceased to function? Conservatives, said the Prime Minister, are “keeping our heads while Labour lose theirs”. If that’s the case, why the wildly intemperate attack on Jeremy Corbyn as a “security-threatening, terrorist-sympathising, Britain-hating” ideologue?
One answer would be that Mr Cameron is laying claim to traditional Labour territory. The Prime Minister has donned the mantle of compassionate Conservatism before now. Yesterday he went further, in dramatic style, by insisting that social issues, issues of poverty, equality and opportunity, are Tory issues.
When did we last hear a Conservative Prime Minister side with the young black victims of police harassment? There is no precedent. There is no precedent, equally, for such a leader to denounce discrimination in the jobs market, the state of prisons, or the injustices of poverty. “You can’t have true opportunity without real equality,” cried Mr Cameron. His audience did not flinch, not visibly, at the E word.
Did the Prime Minister mean what he said? You can guarantee he will be reminded of his every word over the next few years, especially of the claim that the “National Living Wage” means “an £80 a week pay rise for the lowest-paid in our country”. In expert circles few believe it, given the reform of tax credits, but it goes to the heart of Mr Cameron’s declaration of a war on in-work poverty.
Nevertheless, he has thrown down the gauntlet to Mr Corbyn. One Nation Conservatism, as the Prime Minister would style it, needs no alternatives. The United Kingdom, on the other hand, requires an effective parliamentary opposition. Yesterday’s speech was a reminder to Labour that the time for internal arguments is over. If the party means to challenge this government it will have to sort out its disputes and policies very soon.
Will Tories follow Mr Cameron on the path of social liberalism, meanwhile? That will depend on whether they (or he) truly believe in the bold vision outlined by the Prime Minister yesterday.
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