Monday, June 18, 2007

Shift of Emphasis

Since my political ambitions are now directed towards Westminster, I need to adjust this blog's emphasis a touch. And there is no better day to start than that on which my London based daily read, the Telegraph goes big on what it calls the most important speech of David Cameron's leadership. The paper also reports that the 'Leader' wants us to use 'blogs' to ensure that the messages reach the Youtube generation. This makes me feel rather 'with it', which I suppose is not a very 'with it' way of putting it..

Things haven't been going as well for us as they could have over the last few weeks. We all needed a pep talk - and I like the sound of what I read, if that's possible! I was a David Davis supporter, but have become enthusiastic about David Cameron because of the way he's changed the way non-Tories talk about us. This is what I'd been trying to do in Wales over the last few years. Brushing out the hatred and contempt is the important first step - opening up the prospect of voters positively supporting us. In Wales the challenge remains to be accepted as a genuinely 'Welsh' party. In Scotland, the challenge is similar - only much more acute. Across the UK, its to be accepted as a party that cares about what the voters care about. That's why the emphasis on 'the environment' and the 'well-being' of people has been so important.

And I really like the line "There is such a thing as society. Its just not the same thing as the state". This could well be the line that underpins my whole campaign if I get to be fighting an election. Its even more relevant in Wales where Labour (and Plaid Cymru) seem to believe that state provision is always the answer to every problem. The Cameron vision talks about combining"collective security with individual opportunity" and "social responsibility rather than state control". During my years in Welsh politics I've not asked myself often or rigorously enough what makes me think the way I do. I did start off in my teens as a bit 'Plaidy' and once supported an Independent, who happened to be a good personal friend, in a General Election - but then I decided that I was a Conservative, and mainly because I believe that an over- mighty state doesn't deliver. So I'm a libertarian, small-state, ferociously pro-Welsh Cameroon.

I'm really getting the hang of this stuff. Must read some more Cameron speeches.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Glyn,

The reasons we have to keep you out of office in Wales:

'They tell us that a new survey by Populus about the attitudes of MPs reveals not only deep underlying disagreements between Labour and Conservative MPs on key social values, but also big divisions within the Tory party. David Cameron has failed to persuade a large number of his own backbenchers to accept his liberal views on morality and race:

On several key questions Tory MPs are deeply divided. For instance, against the view of Mr Cameron, just 46 per cent of Tory MPs agree that gay couples should have the same rights as heterosexual couples, with 54 per cent disagreeing. For comparison, 83 per cent of Labour MPs and 92 per cent of Lib Dems agree.

Similarly, there is a 52 to 48 per cent split among Tories on whether “the diverse mix of races, cultures and religions now found in our society has improved Britain”. By contrast, 92 per cent of Labour MPs agree, as do all Lib Dems surveyed. And while Labour MPs are virtually unanimous (94 per cent) in agreeing that “one of the things that would most improve life in Britain today is people being more tolerant of different ethnic groups and cultures”, that is the view of only 67 per cent of Tory MPs.

The survey also shows that if you scratch beneath the surface, MPs from the two main parties have very different views on public services. Roughly nine out of ten Labour and Lib Dem MPs agree that “if we were starting with a blank piece of paper and designing a health system for scratch, we would still create something very much like the NHS”, but only two fifths of Conservative members agree.

Private schools appear as a sharp dividing line. More than four fifths of Labour MPs (85 per cent) believe “it would be better for the country if everyone who sends their children to private schools chose to send them to state schools instead”, a view backed by only 7 per cent of Tory MPs.'


Why would people in Wales want politicians with these attitudes in power? Why in London either for that matter?

Anonymous said...

you'll have to be careful glyn. you're getting to sound like cameron

Glyn Davies said...

Patriot - Are you suggesting that Labour are a united party! I don't think many of us will accept that.

And I would contend that when any political party is seeking to change, there is bound to be a lot of debate about attitudes and policy. Five years ago I was something of a maverick in the Conservative Party - while today, I feel right in the mainstream.
We are not going to be knocked off course by some obscure poll which probably has its own agenda.