Martin Kettle
BY Martin Kettle
In Margaret Thatcher’s day, a place of special torment in the Conservative pandemonium was reserved for social workers. No attack would be more certain of triggering an eruption of applause in a 1980s Conservative conference than a sneering assault on social worker do-gooders. The idea that Thatcher herself might have stood before the faithful in the Blackpool Winter Gardens and asked for a round of applause “for Britain’s social workers who are doing such an important job in our country today” would have been inconceivable.
Yet those very words were uttered by David Cameron in the conference hall in Manchester yesterday morning. And they were met, not with Tory derision or disbelief of the kind that would have greeted such a suggestion in the Thatcher era, but with enthusiastic and prolonged clapping from all corners. Other than the obligatory ovation for Britain’s military, Britain’s social workers were the only group to be singled out in such a way by Cameron.
This tribute deserves to be noticed for three reasons. First, because in spite of the praise for Lady Thatcher in the speech and throughout the conference, it was an arresting sign of how much the Tory party has changed since her era and of how little decisive influence the party’s colourful retro-Thatcherites actually enjoy. Second, because it is difficult to imagine a Labour leader paying such a tribute because of fear that his words would be used as an excuse to denounce him as a big government junkie. And third – and most important – because Cameron clearly means it.
It has been widely asserted that the 2013 party conference season has been characterised by a widening of the gap between the parties and a vacating of the centre ground in favour of moves to more partisan territory as the general election nears. There is undoubtedly some truth in the assertion, but not as much as either side pretends. It should not be exaggerated. And it is not the full or even the dominant story either, particularly when judged by Cameron’s speech.
For this was emphatically not the speech of a Tory leader whose primary aim was to move his party to the right. On the contrary, this was the speech of what Cameron is and always has been: A one-nation Conservative who is still seeking, in the words of Matthew d’Ancona’s important new book about the coalition, to solve the political theorem that dominates post-Thatcher Britain – that of combining the vigour of market economics with social justice and social responsibility.
Praise for social workers was simply one aspect of a speech whose most striking feature was that it did not break new ideological ground or make radical eye-catching policy announcements.
Labour think they have the Tories rattled. Miliband’s speech in Brighton put Labour back on the side of the ordinary voter, the party believes. Cameron’s speech, seen from Labour headquarters, was therefore a holding operation. Interestingly, the Lib Dem hierarchy is where the instant reaction to Cameron yesterday was much harsher. The Tories – Cameron included – are straining at the leash over Europe, the Human Rights act, immigration and welfare, said one minister. Don’t underestimate the seriousness of the Tories’ ideological appetite for further cuts, as signalled by George Osborne on Monday, says the same source. It’s not the same Tory party today as it was in 2010, he adds.
The reality of politics, like the reality of life, is that two things can be true at the same time. Cameron is a centrist leader. But he presides over a party that came close to outright revolt this year. The elections next spring are likely to renew the pressure. The polls are not good enough for the Tories to plan for the outright majority that Cameron calls for and the party craves. The quiet preparation for coalition that D’Ancona describes in 2010 may happen again in 2014. But do not underestimate Cameron. For all his failings, the Tories are still better off with him than with anyone else. THE GUARDIAN
BY Martin Kettle
In Margaret Thatcher’s day, a place of special torment in the Conservative pandemonium was reserved for social workers. No attack would be more certain of triggering an eruption of applause in a 1980s Conservative conference than a sneering assault on social worker do-gooders. The idea that Thatcher herself might have stood before the faithful in the Blackpool Winter Gardens and asked for a round of applause “for Britain’s social workers who are doing such an important job in our country today” would have been inconceivable.
Yet those very words were uttered by David Cameron in the conference hall in Manchester yesterday morning. And they were met, not with Tory derision or disbelief of the kind that would have greeted such a suggestion in the Thatcher era, but with enthusiastic and prolonged clapping from all corners. Other than the obligatory ovation for Britain’s military, Britain’s social workers were the only group to be singled out in such a way by Cameron.
This tribute deserves to be noticed for three reasons. First, because in spite of the praise for Lady Thatcher in the speech and throughout the conference, it was an arresting sign of how much the Tory party has changed since her era and of how little decisive influence the party’s colourful retro-Thatcherites actually enjoy. Second, because it is difficult to imagine a Labour leader paying such a tribute because of fear that his words would be used as an excuse to denounce him as a big government junkie. And third – and most important – because Cameron clearly means it.
It has been widely asserted that the 2013 party conference season has been characterised by a widening of the gap between the parties and a vacating of the centre ground in favour of moves to more partisan territory as the general election nears. There is undoubtedly some truth in the assertion, but not as much as either side pretends. It should not be exaggerated. And it is not the full or even the dominant story either, particularly when judged by Cameron’s speech.
For this was emphatically not the speech of a Tory leader whose primary aim was to move his party to the right. On the contrary, this was the speech of what Cameron is and always has been: A one-nation Conservative who is still seeking, in the words of Matthew d’Ancona’s important new book about the coalition, to solve the political theorem that dominates post-Thatcher Britain – that of combining the vigour of market economics with social justice and social responsibility.
Praise for social workers was simply one aspect of a speech whose most striking feature was that it did not break new ideological ground or make radical eye-catching policy announcements.
Labour think they have the Tories rattled. Miliband’s speech in Brighton put Labour back on the side of the ordinary voter, the party believes. Cameron’s speech, seen from Labour headquarters, was therefore a holding operation. Interestingly, the Lib Dem hierarchy is where the instant reaction to Cameron yesterday was much harsher. The Tories – Cameron included – are straining at the leash over Europe, the Human Rights act, immigration and welfare, said one minister. Don’t underestimate the seriousness of the Tories’ ideological appetite for further cuts, as signalled by George Osborne on Monday, says the same source. It’s not the same Tory party today as it was in 2010, he adds.
The reality of politics, like the reality of life, is that two things can be true at the same time. Cameron is a centrist leader. But he presides over a party that came close to outright revolt this year. The elections next spring are likely to renew the pressure. The polls are not good enough for the Tories to plan for the outright majority that Cameron calls for and the party craves. The quiet preparation for coalition that D’Ancona describes in 2010 may happen again in 2014. But do not underestimate Cameron. For all his failings, the Tories are still better off with him than with anyone else. THE GUARDIAN
