2013 brings grounds for Tory optimism

YES, we know the latest opinion poll shows the Tories ten points behind Labour, but the Mail remains optimistic that 2013 could be a good year for David Cameron and his party.

First, we should remember that all midterm governments are unpopular, particularly ones that have to take unpopular decisions.

Secondly, whisper it quietly, but there are grounds for cautious hope about the economy. The deficit has already been cut by 25 per cent and is still falling, unemployment is down, and our national credit rating is strong.

Thirdly, compared to woefully inadequate Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband, Mr Cameron is the only man who looks remotely like a leader on the British political scene. True, austerity measures have been painful and a cynical Opposition has portrayed the Tories as unfeeling and out of touch – appearing to relish the cuts. But for Miliband and Ed Balls – architects of this country’s greatest economic disaster since the 1930s – to play this card is frankly preposterous. Given the chance, they would take us back to the brink of ruin. Mr Cameron needs to ram this message home. So what of the future? There is much talk that he needs to occupy the centre ground of British politics. The Mail prefers to think of this as the common ground. There are countless voters from both left and right who know the bloated, corrupt, unaccountable eurozone with its ‘one size fits all’ currency is not working.

These voters do not want to pull out of the EU. They do, however, want a looser relationship that enables Britain to run her affairs more competently than the unelected commissars of Brussels.

As UKIP continues to gain support, this is a reality Mr Cameron can no longer ignore. His forthcoming speech on Europe will be a defining moment. But on the domestic scene, he needs to find a narrative to persuade voters he truly understands their problems. Side issues like gay marriage, foreign aid and ‘ green’ targets are unnecessarily provocative distractions.

What really upsets people is that they can’t see their GP at the weekends; that their elderly parents are being ‘killed off’ in hospitals without any consultation; that their train service is ruinously expensive (or sometimes non-existent); that their energy bills soar inexorably while the earnings on their savings continue to shrink and that they can’t get their bins emptied every week. On the plus side, Michael Gove is making great strides on restoring standards to education, crime is falling and Iain Duncan Smith is grappling manfully with the intractable problems of welfarism, ducked in such a cowardly way by previous Labour governments. On the minus side, Mr Cameron has failed to create an imaginative growth agenda for the still faltering economy.

Decisions need to be made immediately on major infrastructure projects. Tax relief schemes are needed to kickstart the moribund housing market – a market under unbearable strain because not enough has been done to reverse Labour’s wholly irresponsible policy of mass immigration.

Inevitably, vested interest groups, the BBC and the liberal Left – including his Coalition partners – will fight the Prime Minister all the way and portray the Tories as nasty.

But for Britain’s sake, he must not be deflected. If there’s one thing worse than being caricatured as nasty, it’s being seen by the electorate as incompetent.

Labour governments traditionally destroy the economy. Tory governments, through tough discipline, restore it. Politicians don’t need to be liked to be respected.

Yes, there are grounds for optimism in 2013, but there’s still much work for Mr Cameron to do.