Cameron love-in a case of collective wisteria in the chimney

The Anthony Painter Labour movement column

All hail the Tory press. I was beginning to give up all hope that David Cameron was going to be scrutinised in any real way, but I hadn’t counted on the Mail on Sunday and the Telegraph. In this crazy kaleidoscope of a political world, you have to take your friends where you can find them.

The Mail on Sunday devoted nothing short of its front page to David Cameron’s expenses claims. It was all within the rules of course. “Within the rules” is the sort of assault on the English language of which only politics and advertising seem capable. It’s up there with “I did not have sex with that woman….” Apparently, it seems that David Cameron may have taken out a mortgage that was claimable and paid off a private loan that did not qualify for expenses; if true, he benefited financially and the tax-payer lost out. And still he is able to stomp around demanding that judgement be meted out on others and, self-servingly, that an early election is called.

Don’t worry though, he has to appear before his party’s scrutiny committee. I think he may not get through that. I mean, it is a tough panel of three. These three see no, hear no, speak no evil monkeys (unless you happen to be a disposable Tory grandee) include his chief of staff and his chief whip. It’s difficult to imagine any tougher justice.

Fortunately, the Telegraph is on the case. Fraser Nelson let the cat out of the bag on the Tories’ spending cutting agenda. The ‘Tory Plan’ is for a 10 per cent cut in spending across education, defence, home office, and transport. On this basis, almost nothing that any Tory spokesperson says on public investment can be taken seriously. It simply won’t happen. Why the brutality? It is because the Tories are obsessed with the national debt. Don;t get me wrong, it is a serious concern. But it has to be balanced against what is economically and socially sensible both in the short and long term.

Poor Fraser realised what he had done and later tried to backtrack wanly with all sorts of spectacular attempts at obfuscation largely achieved by juggling the words “spending” and “investment” as if they were interchangeable. Too late – at least we now know where we stand. Can you hear the Tory spokespeople coming out to denounce the report? Thought not.

The interesting thing about the Telegraph piece is that it discourteously went behind the warm words that others seem so happy just to take at face value. What other reason can there be for the easy ride that David Cameron is getting in the left and liberal press? He says things that sound kind of like they are progressive. That seems to be enough. Is it a collective case of wisteria in the chimney?

And now we have the Guardian and the Observer backing the Liberal Democrats. Well, on Europe and constitutional reform they do say some of the right things. Well, in this news cycle at least. Of course, we have to quietly put to one side the attempt to initiate a referendum on the EU a while ago. No, it was not on whether we should ratify the Lisbon Treaty. It was whether Britain should be a member of the EU at all. In one fell swoop, the Liberal Democrats could have achieved what the Conservatives risk doing through stupidity and stealth – Britain out of the EU.

But that was the last news cycle. We are now talking about this news cycle. And if all good thinking Guardian and Observer readers pile in behind the Liberal Democrats they could secure as much as 22 per cent of the vote. We might even have a one and two halves party system and wouldn’t that be marvellously pluralistic. We could even get together and have lots of dinner parties where we all get to say the right things.

And the Tories will ride on. And there will be no meaningful constitutional reform. And we begin the slow march away from Europe. And we finally realise what’s going on. We see public services devastated; Britain’s role in the world diminished; Britain’s society becomes even more unequal; the environment continues to splutter; and we return within the blink of an eye to the casino capitalism that has served us so poorly. Then we shout. Then we will cry betrayal. But there will be no betrayal. We will have betrayed ourselves and our own values.

But this is just hysteria right? Cameron’s OK really. Tory, sure, but OK.

I’m not buying it. Since the collapse of the Liberal government of the early twentieth century, there has been one party capable of securing progressive reform. That is the Labour Party. Any other perspective is simply ahistorical. Its leaders are fallible. Its processes are arcane. It has let us down spectacularly at times.

But a Labour Party that is open, plural, environmental, liberal, with social justice remaining at its core is the only hope for change. Reform has been hijacked by the electoral reform lobby temporarily but it’s far broader than that. It is about a more just and inclusive economy, a fairer and more bonded society, a cleaner environment, and a more democratic and pluralistic politics. Weaken Labour and you hobble reform.

So we should applaud the Tory press. They’ve opened our eyes to the reality of David Cameron and his creed. And maybe, just maybe, the collapse in Tory support in one poll yesterday means that the electorate are beginning to notice. But let’s not wait until we can cry betrayal. Let’s stop this happening, starting today.

A different Labour party must emerge. But if the values of the mainstream left are to be put into action then the battle has already begun.

Vote, campaign, persuade tomorrow. This is for real.