A Political Update by John Birchall
PAU – Politics Blog – February 2010.
It was the late Roy Jenkins who noted that in the final days of John Mayor’s government none of the big names in the Labour Party wanted to be responsible for dropping the Ming Vase. By this he meant that as the election drew nearer so all those expecting to enter government once the voters had exercised their rights did not want to be the individual who made a mistake, so letting in their opposition and in so doing ruining their own political career.
Harold Wilson, back in 1964 said that he was glad when Alec Douglas Hume finally called an election for he had ‘run out of things to say’. John Smith in 1992 is often accused of making mistakes in his major economic presentation (he was Labour’s Shadow Chancellor so allowing Chris Patten and others who were running the Tory campaign to develop ‘the double whammy’ slogan that, along with Neil Kinnock’s Sheffield Rally speech, allowed John Mayor to win an election against the background of a severe economic recession.
Three months ago the Cameron’s could have selected their curtains for 10 Downing Street but now, with some polls showing the Tory lead as low as 7%, the bets are on a hung parliament.
With the recession probably formally over, unemployment looking to have peaked and the Tories finding it difficult to argue cutting public expenditure just as we begin to recover our economic stability the once unpopular government is beginning to look not quite as useless as it did.
So, who will drop the Ming Vase? Might it have ‘wobbled’ when Mr Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor, announced deep cuts in public expenditure or will Mr Grayling’s inability with Home Office data be another cause of grabbing the vase before it falls to earth? I doubt if anyone of these will be the single cause of Mr Cameron remaining the Leader of the Opposition but it could be as interesting an election as 1964 and 1974(both).
But then we have not heard the last of Lord Ashworth’s contributions to Tory Funds, the MP’s being taken to court over their expenses or Gordon Brown’s appearance on the Piers Morgan show.
Any suggestions as to who might yet cause the Chinese Porcelain repair section of The British Museum to be called upon please reply to Mr N Clegg, Liberal Democrats – who might just be rather pleased with the current situation!