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“Mr Cameron brings his experiences: nanny, prep school, Eton, Oxford, riding to hounds, St James’s clubs, the aristocracy, privilege, stately homes, private wealth, hunt balls, and the shortest period (as an MP) of any leader-candidate in party history.”

     It’s like a Tsunami of stupidity engulfing the Tory Party.
    On one side there’s a candidate of immense experience and broad achievement. A proper Tory who wants to cut taxes, reduce the size of government, and who, because of his own hard beginnings, has a passionate desire to reform education and raise standards for the poor and under-privileged. On the other side is a Johnny-come-lately, who has the thinnest resume and was lucky enough to have a privileged upbringing. He got where he is today, which isn’t very far, with the help of the proverbial silver spoon in his mouth.

    It would appear, (and don’t forget it’s not over ‘til it’s over), that the race for the Tory party leadership is going to be won by the Johnny-come-lately, and it’s all about the perceived ability of David Cameron to win the next election. No matter that he is an equivocator and apologist for Toryism. No matter that he has adopted the asinine, King-Canute like belief that he can change the climate by curbing human behaviour. The Tory rank and file, and the Parliamentary party, have been bullied by the media into thinking that only Cameron can win power. It doesn’t really matter what he believes in, power is everything. Those of us who have been around the block a few times know that as soon as Cameron wins, (and it isn’t yet the shoe-in the media would have us believe), the media will turn on him. The drugs question will dog him and finally bring him down. 

    No Tory values  
David Cameron is flying high with no visible intellectual means of support. He seems to have no obvious Tory value system, and yet he has attracted endorsements from sections of the party that any rational, sentient being would normally have assumed would be lining up to pay homage to the traditional, right-wing Tory, David Davis.  Cameron isn’t really a Tory; just listening to him on the BBCTV Question Time debate, it was obvious that the man has no basic political philosophy to fall back on. Yes, Cameron is smooth and isn’t ugly. But the media has decided that he shall be Tory leader. I beg to differ.

    Solid Conservative beliefs
    In contrast, David Davis had a solid set of conservative beliefs. He was passionate about what he wanted to achieve in politics and it was obvious that his background and experience shaped his outlook on life.  And thanks to a lack of nerve answering questions of BBC Radio 4”s Women’s Hour we also know that Davis prefers briefs to boxer shorts, or is it the other way round. How he must be kicking himself for not replying along the lines of “I think answering that question would induce information overload” or something like that.  

    Davis desperately wants Britain’s youngsters to have the same kind of educational opportunity he had. I know exactly what he means. When I was going through the educational system, the 11 plus was the gateway to the stars for working class children. It meant that anyone from the lowliest background had access to world-class education. Davis made the point that if he was in his late teens today and contemplating a university education he would probably have to decline. There is the huge cost of the fees – upwards of £15,000 over 3 years, then there is the cost of living, say another £15,000. Then there is the lost income - say £20,000 a year for 3 years. That makes £90,000. It still might make sense if the standard of education on offer was anything like as good as it was 30-odd years ago. A degree then often was the key to a lucrative career.  Would a degree earned today be worth the loss of £90,000 and three years from a career? It is nothing short of outrageous that the answer is “no”. And that is thanks to the Labour Party, which supposedly exists to look after the interests of the common man, and lily-livered Tories who, even when Maggie Thatcher was in charge, didn’t have the guts to revert to grammar schools.     

    Parliamentary party
    Now, more than half of the Parliamentary party has declared itself in Cameron’s favour. If David Cameron was William Hague, you wouldn’t have to ask questions like this. Hague was a brilliant speaker with up-front Conservative convictions that were obvious. The question is - why would all these Tories, plus a respected Tory and opinion former like Charles Moore with grown up right-wing views, throw their hats into the ring in support of David Cameron, a carpet-bagger with no Conservative pedigree?

    Freddy Forsyth
    Cameron’s lack of credentials compared to Davis was brilliantly summed up by novelist Frederick Forsyth in a letter to the Sunday Telegraph on October 23.

    “David Davis brings to the contest his knowledge of: inner cities, deprivation, struggle, grammar school, redbrick, business, commerce, industry, the North, the Midlands, the working class, the middle class, the suburbs, the Army and the views of a practising Christian. And inside politics, 18 year’s slog, five important offices and a Privy Councillorship.”

    “Mr Cameron brings his experiences: nanny, prep school, Eton, Oxford, riding to hounds, St James’s clubs, the aristocracy, privilege, stately homes, private wealth, hunt balls, and the Home Counties; plus 11 years’ attendance at party headquarters. And as an MP, four whole years, the shortest period of any leader-candidate in party history.”

    Lap-dog
    So why would Charles Moore, biographer and worshipper of Margaret Thatcher, think that Cameron should be party leader? The only rational reason I can see is cronyism; he’s an old Etonian too. Just like Boris Johnson, who has been doing a very impressive imitation of a lap-dog in his worship of Cameron. But that doesn’t explain why Liam Fox or William Hague want to join up. That is a mystery to me.

    Look at Cameron’s campaign literature. He proudly lists “Commentators (who) endorse Cameron”. Four of these columnists who love Cameron write for lefty newspapers, the Guardian, The Independent (two) and the Observer. Another is the loathsome bird-brain and Tory-hater Mary-Ann Sieghart, star columnist of the unutterably corrupt Times, and a News of the World editorial. Cameron is proud to be supported by the News of the World.

    Straw man
    Just one more piece of evidence, which should convince you that Cameron is a straw man. In his manifesto, Cameron puts deregulation high up on his list of priorities. A bit further down he urges us to meet big global challenges like “climate change”. Not mentioned in the manifesto is his previous speech about climate change where he said he wants to join with the Liberal Democrats to set up a government Carbon Trust to limit the amount of CO2 which each and every business and individual in the land would be allowed.

    That would generate world class levels of bureaucracy, cripple the economy, while of course, achieving absolutely nothing in terms of climate change.

    You have been warned. Vote Davis!

 Neil Winton – November 14, 2005  

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