Fear-mongers, scaredy-cats, bed-wetters and Jack Straw

Everything looking great. And therefore sorry to have to raise this with you. But we here at the Unit feel that some of our work has recently been somewhat undermined by certain grumbling criticism in press and party about a conflict between "tactics" and "strategy".

While these critics might be dismissed by some - because they don't know the difference between the two terms - we nevertheless think it is still important to address their points, however stupid.

Obviously, there should never be any conflict between strategy and tactics. We are the Tactics Unit - but nevertheless often need to overlap into advice on overall strategy. Similarly, we think strategy people might do well to keep their ignorant patronising beaks out of tactical considerations. Tactics after all are the clever means you use to get where any idiot could tell you your strategy should be heading.

To take a random example. If a person in authority decided the strategic aim was to gain, say, re-election to a certain post - president of an amateur dramatics society or chairman of a football club or leader of a nation state - then tactical advisers might then urge that person to seek re-election at the most advantageous possible time. If that leader was then dissuaded by a group of fear-mongers, scaredy-cats, bed-wetters and Jack Straws not to follow the suggested tactics, it seems to us it would be rather unfair to blame the people who came up with the tactics for the fact that the person in authority had had their mind changed by a group of people who might well later come to be deemed "idiots". Think this example is really worth thinking very hard about.

Some papers seem to be running with the line that there is a factional schism between two camps of advisers. That on the one hand there are people like us at the Unit, plus Ed, Ed, David, Ed and Doug, who didn't actually fight in any wars or have our political convictions forged in the crucible of Suez or wear the New Look when it came out. And the suggestion is that we are, as one "senior source" put it over the weekend, "crap". The assertion is that elsewhere there is a brains trust of wise old grey-haired owls who, if anyone bothers to wake them up and ask, know everything. A group presumably made up of Jack Straw, Gwyneth Dunwoody and behemoths of the Chamber and masters of the amusing toilet-book like Ray Hattersley and Gerard Kaufman.

Think we need to stamp on this idea. We are all absolutely in this together. On our side we see you need to harness all the talents. Not just the intelligence, political savvy, voter-appeal, courage and determination of the younger set. But also the very real moaning of your more senior colleagues.

Let us know your thoughts.

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