Playing Both Sides
David Cameron has written another article for the Guardian to show, once again, that when it comes to being Tony Blair he has studied with the best. The very first sentence includes the famous Tony-quote, "tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime", and the assertion that Tony was right. But Tony "has had nearly nine years in power" and in all that time he has "been neither tough on crime, nor its causes". It seems a little unfair to accuse Tony of not being the causes of crime in the same breath as reproaching him for not being tough on it; perhaps Cameron is confused. After all, "We've had 30 criminal justice acts since 1997; just nine in education", and even if Tony had passed more education acts, getting new laws onto the statute books in the teeth of opposition thanks to a massive overall majority is "often a sign of defeat." Perhaps Cameron is confused.
Still, Cameron it is who has the "real respect agenda". He it is who will be truly tough on crime and, no doubt, truly the causes of crime besides. "In every community there are fantastic social entrepreneurs and volunteers who have found solutions to these problems" - solutions so effective that "almost all the key long-term indicators - family breakdown, hard drug use, binge drinking, domestic violence, teenage pregnancy - are heading the wrong way". The reason for this is not hard for Cameron to see - it stems from "the chancellor's obsession with state solutions, and his belief that only the government can deliver fairness". The Blairite mastery of abstract nouns shines through this diagnosis like teeth on a talk show.
The Conservatives, by contrast, would "create a level playing field for the voluntary sector and social enterprises so they can win more contracts to deliver more community and public services"; presumably enabling charities to compete on the same terms as Railtrack and other luminaries of the service economy, and perhaps even enabling businesses to gain this newly flexible charitable status and waste still less money on wages than at present.
And, of course, "we have to recognise that we're in this together". It's all very well to turn to David Cameron for inspiration, but everyone in the country has "a shared responsibility to build respect", whatever that may mean. To this end Cameron, and his chums at the Prince's Trust and the Duke of Edinburgh Award, are mapping out a wonderful journey towards "a National School Leaver Programme to offer every young person the chance to participate in community activity at home and abroad after leaving school", which sounds like a jolly route around the problem of minimum wage by way of cheap unskilled labour.
The title of Cameron's article is "An end to polarisation" and, as one would expect from a Tony in waiting, he ends it by polarising the debate, with himself at the "consensus" end and those who oppose him as "caricatures". Cameron believes that "we need to work on both sides of the equation", building respect to win contracts on a level playing field, understanding even as we punish, and stringing up with a limp wrist.
Still, Cameron it is who has the "real respect agenda". He it is who will be truly tough on crime and, no doubt, truly the causes of crime besides. "In every community there are fantastic social entrepreneurs and volunteers who have found solutions to these problems" - solutions so effective that "almost all the key long-term indicators - family breakdown, hard drug use, binge drinking, domestic violence, teenage pregnancy - are heading the wrong way". The reason for this is not hard for Cameron to see - it stems from "the chancellor's obsession with state solutions, and his belief that only the government can deliver fairness". The Blairite mastery of abstract nouns shines through this diagnosis like teeth on a talk show.
The Conservatives, by contrast, would "create a level playing field for the voluntary sector and social enterprises so they can win more contracts to deliver more community and public services"; presumably enabling charities to compete on the same terms as Railtrack and other luminaries of the service economy, and perhaps even enabling businesses to gain this newly flexible charitable status and waste still less money on wages than at present.
And, of course, "we have to recognise that we're in this together". It's all very well to turn to David Cameron for inspiration, but everyone in the country has "a shared responsibility to build respect", whatever that may mean. To this end Cameron, and his chums at the Prince's Trust and the Duke of Edinburgh Award, are mapping out a wonderful journey towards "a National School Leaver Programme to offer every young person the chance to participate in community activity at home and abroad after leaving school", which sounds like a jolly route around the problem of minimum wage by way of cheap unskilled labour.
The title of Cameron's article is "An end to polarisation" and, as one would expect from a Tony in waiting, he ends it by polarising the debate, with himself at the "consensus" end and those who oppose him as "caricatures". Cameron believes that "we need to work on both sides of the equation", building respect to win contracts on a level playing field, understanding even as we punish, and stringing up with a limp wrist.
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