Moving on from doing nothin

By Benjamin Wegg-Prosser

This weekend’s polls show that politics is now returning to normal. Despite defying political gravity throughout the Autumn Gordon Brown has now been brought back to earth with a widening poll gap and a sense that his new year campaigning has not quite delivered. While the second wave of British bail-outs shows that there is no quick fix to the systemic crisis in the global financial system.

With the return of Ken Clarke to front-line politics and the elevation of William Hague we seem to have turned back the clock by more than a decade. The idea that there might be an election in less than six months seems crazy to me, but then I thought that Hilary was a sure fire bet to beat Obama, so what do I know.

The elevation of Eric Pickles to Tory Party Chair is further evidence that both parties intend to indulge in some fairly tough political combat. Having Chris Grayling as Shadow Home Secretary will certainly add some grit to Conservative policy campaigning.

Since the new year Gordon Brown had tried to get with the programme with some bolder moves. I for one missed much of the coverage of the train journey which he took after Christmas (I was lucky enough to be at the CES conference in Las Vegas) but from the look of things it did not quite shoot the lights out. It’s no surprise that Obama’s railway experience over the past few days has garnered more column inches than Brown’s ever was going to.

But the Downing Street team should not let its modest impact put them off their track. For them to get some momentum going I would consider for some of the following:

1) Use the prestige of office as much as possible – I understand that when Gordon Brown came into Downing Street he was reluctant to be interviewed in rooms which his team associated with “Blair”. I am glad these days are over. If the public are going to give him the benefit of the doubt come polling day then it’ll be on the basis that he is the most serious and experienced leader on offer, rather than the most likeable and charismatic. The Marr interview a fortnight ago was a decent pitch to the public, in sharp contrast to David Cameron’s offering the following week. God knows why the Conservative leader invited the cameras into his house when a) he only lives five minutes from BBC TV Centre and b) having successfully cultivated an image which is many rungs below his actual social status why show off the home furnishings which tell the public so much more about his background than anything else that he has done since taking over from Michael Howard?

2) Stop repeating tired lines about the Conservative party being a “do nothing” party, clearly they have ideas they’re just not the right ones. The Cameron / Osborne team is so inexperienced that it is not worth taking a risk on – that has to be the message. The public will listen to a criticism of the Tory party so let them hear some rather than simply dismissing them out of hand. I’d focus on the glee with which George Osborne welcomes financial bad news, it reminds me of the way in which Labour employment spokespeople in the 1980s used to appear to relish news of the growing dole queues. Talking down the economy is very unattractive, Labour ministers should hammer the Tories whenever they do this.

3) Focus relentlessly on the experience and seriousness of the current ministerial team (and maybe find a few more who fit that description). The appointment of Mervyn Davies as Trade Minister is a good move, he should be on our screens on a regular basis in a double act with fellow minister and former businessman Paul Myners. While the invitation to Brown to attend the Gaza peace summit is a welcome reminder that an “open” rather than “closed” foreign policy (viz. our presence in Iraq and Afghanistan) can pay off in terms of giving Britain the opportunity to craft a positive outcome to recent troubles whilst also boosting the Prime Minister’s reputation at home and abroad. The return of Clarke will make these arguments harder to make but that should not stop them making them.

4) Don’t forget there is something other than the economy. Clearly the crisis has to be a priority but the government’s relentless focus on this is in danger of drowning everything out. We are told that the Prime Minister performs best when he only has do deal with one thing at a time. His team are going to have to use their new war room to improve their multi-tasking capacity. Recent announcements on Heathrow, digital Britain and “green” job have shown how the crisis can be used as a backdrop rather than the focal point of government activity.

5) Keep on tickling the Tories’ tummies. The “second job” campaign is a smart move. I’d take things on a little, for example, asking whether Tory shadow cabinet ministers should be receiving confidential briefings from Whitehall officials (as they are thought to be doing from the beginning of this month) when they are being touted around by speaker agencies as having an inside track on Tory policy, as the Shadow Secretary for Children, Schools and Families is here.

And while I’m here, some of the criticisms of this site are well made (by people whom I admire) while other comments are just simply facile. This site is not yet perfect, but let’s give it some time, let them get the design right, help them make it a valuable resource and stop flapping about its “independence”, only a fool would think that a site like this can succeed by kissing arses in Downing Street. It’s time people started to post interesting stuff (not just pointless mudslinging at the Tories) and showing that it can reach an audience beyond the bars of Westminster (and airline departure lounges in my case)…