Does Mr Cameron know he’s no longer leader of the opposition?

By Elliott Adair

Watching Prime Minister’s Question Time yesterday, it became very apparent to me that the Prime Minister seems to be under the strange impression that he’s still on the opposition benches. Either that, or he appears to be under the illusion that the language of opposition can also be the language of government. It’s the same old loud, rabble-rousing language that he has used since becoming Tory Leader. His theme during those thirty minutes seems to be one of deflection, rather than true accountability as Prime Minister.

It seems to be becoming the norm. Over the past few weeks, the coalition has made a great play on blaming Labour, for the financial crisis and for anything else it can. But playing the blame game, without offering solutions, is not what I would call or expect from any new government, no matter how slim its mandate.

As this continues, Labour will find a great opportunity: we can change our game to meet the challenges the country faces up and down the country, campaigning in real terms and opposing in real terms. To do that, we’ll need to adapt too, from the langugage of government to the language of an active opposition. Our leadership election will benefit that process and those campaigns. And whoever wins the leadership, the guantlet can be thrown down: “Mr Cameron, you’re in charge, it’s your reputation on the line, prove yourself as we’re doing in our community campaigning”.

I urge Labour MPs to point out to Tories that they wanted ‘power’, that they’ve got it and that it’s now their responsibility to prove to the people that they know how to use it in our best interests.

In the meantime, Labour needs find its opposition voice. Becayse if we use it, and the Tories’ governing voice fails them, we won’t need it for too long.