tPod

Rory Bremner once called David Cameron a Tory iPod, not because he is posh and white, with a slightly glazed look, but because one could “download the policy they want.” Cameron does indeed seem to be all things to all men (and it seems; breast-feeding pregnant women too), a modern centrist politician not tied down by ideological baggage.

Some have argued that our electoral apathy is a symptom of the current Westminster body politic. The three major parties migrate to the centre as they fight over ever-thinning political oxygen, none of them offer real choice, just the same staid product in new packaging.

Sceptical labour-leaning commentators have argued that Cameron is employing the classic feign-left lunge-right trick, which has served right-wingers, both on the football field and in Westminster, down the ages. I would tend to agree with this. Cameron and his entourage of Ed Vaisy, Michael Gove, and George Osborne are among the sharpest young politicians, and they are shaping the party into a broad church with liberals equally welcome in among the traditional blue-rinse brigade. Yet these young Tories are, at heart, economic liberals keen to see a strengthening of the capitalist mechanisms that protect property and wealth, both at home, and globally.

This may horrify traditional economic lefties, but I’m sure the middle classes et al would welcome a reduction in the overall tax-burden, allowing people to spend more of their own money as they please. If Cameron can convince the poorest families that he does not intend to slash public spending, and with a nod and a wink, convince the middle classes that really he intends to cut taxes, he may end up winning power without a clear promise to do either – claiming the centre through ambiguity.

In an interview this morning on BBC Radio Four, the inexorable John Humphreys tried to tie down Cameron to one particular fiscal policy. Cameron, as he did a few months ago, became quite irate with the obstinate Welsh newsman, and claimed that he would never be able to explain his policies while he was persistently interrupted. Finally with Humphreys chastised and somewhat irked, the conservative leader explained – what we have heard ad nauseam from his team – that as the economy grows, the proceeds of growth will be shared between increased public spending and a reduction in the tax burden. Sounds like a plan.

The problem, as ever, is in the foundation of the argument. As a fiscal policy, it has a fundamental flaw; it relies on the assumption that economy will grow. Many economists would argue that with our bloated public sector, the chances for continued sustained economic growth are unlikely. By the time Brown has finished racking up billions of pounds of debt, the economy will be due a serious overhaul. So Cameron’s recipe of freezing public spending at Brownian levels sounds rather unhelpful.

What Britain desperately needs is a progressive, reform-minded party, that embraces the challenges of globalisation and will work to create a competitive incentive-driven economy. Maybe Cameron’s by-line trickery masks a brave politician who will rise to this challenge, my problem is, he’s just too convincing as an iPod.

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