Putin? He’s a pushover compared to Ukip, Dave
A‘FRANK and robust’ Davi d Cameron lectures Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in australia. Putin is at ‘a fork in the road’ over his support for Russian rebels fighting the government in Ukraine, says our gallant PM, adding: ‘ There’s a different and better way for Russia to behave that could lead to an easing of relations, but at the moment he’s not taking that path.’
Boyish Dave enjoys such moments on the international stage. Does he dream of following his political hero, Tony Blair, and becoming a famous, well-rewarded international political consultant?
Putin might well be at a fork in the road, and not intending to take t he ‘ correct’ path. But i sn’t Cameron vulnerable to the same criticism?
The events in Brisbane are a far cry from his own hand-to-mouth political existence at home, where he faces fresh humiliation this week if Ukip’s candidate — defecting Tory MP Mark Reckless — wins the Rochester and Strood by-election.
A Reckless victory by a large margin might spook small-majority Tory MPs who fear losing their seats into jumping ship to Ukip, bringing Cameron’s leadership under pressure.
So he has urged every Tory minister and MP to campaign f or the Conservative candidate in Rochester, kelly Tolhurst. extraordinarily, he even begs Labour voters to side with the Tories to defeat Reckless.
When he gets back from socialising with world l eaders, he plans to divert attention from his likely defeat in kent by making a big s peech on EU reform a nd immigration control.
He hopes this will persuade ‘don’t knows’ not to heed the siren calls of Ukip leader Nigel farage. farage himself predicts more defections — mostly from the Tories, but some from Labour. his party is now an equal opportunity destroyer of Tory and Labour majorities.
Speaking in Brisbane about a Ukip win in Rochester and Strood, Cameron said: ‘It’ll be another sort of notch for them. They will all celebrate with a pint at the pub and there will be a greater danger of insecurity and instability in our economy.’
It’s called democracy, Dave. If voters do not understand your true intentions, they fear them.
WHEN a rival politician comes along offering a clearer vision of what he, or she, thinks, they’ll often ( but not always) support them. Threatening them with insecurity and instability doesn’t work. We’ve lived with both recently after going to war unnecessarily in afghanistan and Iraq, and suffering the financial crash of 2008. The polls might be wrong, of course. The Tories could hold Rochester and Strood.
A local confectioner, John Baldock, of Sweet expectations, asks his customers about their voting intentions and registers their replies by putting coloured bon-bons in six jars — one for each of the parties contesting the election, and one for don’t knows.
Ukip’s jar of purple bon-bons has grown fastest, he says. however, he adds: ‘ a lot of people are saying they’ll vote Conservative (blue bon bons) to keep Ukip out. I think it could still be quite close.’
Lecturing baddie Putin in Brisbane will have f elt very satisfactory. But Dave must now tot up the bon-bons in Rochester and Strood.
THE Coalition Government has helped the rich by penalising the poor, says an ‘independent’ report by university economists out today. Yet the highest-paid 3,000 people in the UK pay more income tax than the bottom nine million, say Government statistics quoted by journalist fraser Nelson f or a Channel 4 Dispatches programme tonight. Can both be right? Labour’s ed Miliband told party members on Saturday: ‘The country is too unequal.’ Meaning, presumably, that he’ll seek higher taxes from the better-off.
But Nelson says: ‘It is now harder than ever for ed Miliband to justify bringing back the 50p tax.
‘Indeed, it would pose a greater risk than ever, now that the British Government is so financially reliant on a small number of highly mobile super-taxpayers.’
People will believe what they want to believe. as someone said, politicians cling to statistics like drunks to lamp-posts. More for support than illumination.