By Politicians are adept at making pronouncements on specific issues but they sometimes hesitate when they’re asked about their philosophy. Pressed for his “one big idea” in last Friday’s Telegraph interview, David Cameron said it was “responsibility”, and he repeated this when asked a similar question on the Andrew Marr show.
It’s curious that Cameron has picked on a theme that Gordon Brown has already made his own. For example, at the 2007 Labour Conference Brown identified responsibility as looking after those who are less fortunate. He linked responsibility and duty to his upbringing in a rather traditional Christian household, and this makes his own use of the concept quite authentic – one doesn’t doubt that this was the sort of language that he heard from his parents. He also linked it to rights – “in return for the rights we all have, there are responsibilities we all owe.” The implication is that the welfare state isn’t just a blank cheque – citizens have to live up to certain responsibilities too.
The really big idea for any conservative, from Thatcher to George W Bush, is surely to shrink the state, but Cameron won’t let himself say this – or not quite. On the Marr show he only referred to some relatively minors tweaks, such as parental safeguarding regulations which have gone too far and the dangers of massive databases (in relation to which both Ed Balls and Alan Johnson respectively have signalled changes).
I guess the Tories’ private polling shows the NHS as continuing to be very popular and they fear that too much anti-state rhetoric will be interpreted as being anti-NHS. At the same time there seems to be little enthusiasm for the NHS among Conservative activists and their hero, Mr Hannan, calls it a “60 year mistake”.
Cameron sounds much more like a traditional Conservative when he applies the word “responsible” to public expenditure, and by this he means big cuts. This is one of those cases where the public wants it both ways. Polls and focus groups show that the idea of cuts is currently quite popular, so long as it applies to someone else.
But the electors also like to hear from a leader with conviction who doesn’t just follow the polls, and at this point the bland Cameron isn’t convincing – not even to the Telegraph.
It will be interesting to see how he responds to tougher questioning during the general election and in the course of the debates.
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