Get the message, with Dave Cameron
David Cameron’s declaration that black dads need to stop shirking their paternal duties raised a few eyebrows this week. Lib Dem Linda Jack was irked by Dave’s apparent lack of understanding of the complex issues at play, and argued that: “what we want are political solutions not moral ones”. She went on:
“…if he has to start moralising I would have a lot more respect for him if he did so in a context that acknowledged the racism so many black people still face and looked at serious policies to tackle poverty and an education system that condemns some of our most vulnerable young people to failure.”
While the Tory blogs kept their distance, classical liberal Tygerland was fed up with Cameron’s naff aping of Obamaesque rhetoric, and concluded a brief but invective-drenched post by writing:
“This is not the first time Cameron has craved association with Obama, and it sure won’t be the last. Of course the two could barely be more different. Obama is good looking, stylish, and charismatic. Cameron is a dweeb.”
Cameron’s emphasis on “fixing society” is something we can expect to hear more of in the future, as the news was broken by Guido Fawkes that Conservative Home’s deputy editor Sam Coates is to take a speechwriting role in Dave’s office. The website is loathed by many senior modernising Tories, so this is an interesting move.
And while the Notting Hill set might not like Conservative Home, the distinctly unmodern Donal Blaney, this week complained that editor Tim has a “visceral hatred” of him…
No taxation without STV representation
The Liberal Democrats are changing. They’ve raked the muesli from their beards. Some of them don’t have even beards any more, and Nick Clegg’s new policy document Make it Happen is the proof. Hampstead Liberal Ed Fordham summarised some of the keener comment from party loyalists, making the point that a positive activist reaction to a tax-cutting agenda is worth noting. Meanwhile on the Indy’s Open House blog, John Rentoul chuckled:
“…it was fun to listen to George Osborne, outflanked by a tax cutter, protest that the Lib Dems can say what they like because they won’t have to do it.”
What have we learned this week?
A continuing source of curiosity, former Blur drummer Dave Rowntree seems likely to prevail in next week’s by-election for Westminster City Council’s Church Street Ward. When the seat was last contested, Labour held it comfortably, seeing off challenges from pious harpy Yvonne Ridley and, er, me…
Video of the Week
Via, PlayPolitical, the new JibJab video for 2008 is now online. Following on from the wildly popular Kerry-Bush JibJab in 2004, watch the presidential candidates boiled down to their cartoon essence. Barack Obama is depicted riding a unicorn.
Quote of the Week
“…Either way, whilst the response which listed prices for an ounce did fluctuate mildly, the truism remains that it costs aroud £15 for a Henry, but only if you’re buying in bulk now. Gone are the days of Red Seal, soap bar and slate. It’s all about the smelly stuff now.
Dizzy has some fun advising Tory MP Tim Loughton about skunk.
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