LETTERS
Fudge abounds
Sir: I look forward with relish to reading The Spectator each week, not least because of the column by that most accurate and perceptive of political commentators — Mr Noel Malcolm. Having read 'The Tories throw stones in a glass house of no princi- ples' (10 August), I am reluctantly inclined to revise my opinion of him.
Mr Malcolm says that Tory Central Office's 'Summer Heat on Labour' cam- paign in 1990 was well presented: as the Tory Party's Director of Communications at the time, I thank him. However, when he also claims 'the public did not buy the argument' that the Labour Party retains its centralist, collectivist and interventionist instincts, he is plain wrong.
'Summer Heat' was designed both to build on the lift in party morale engineered by Kenneth Baker by out-foxing Walworth Road in the May local elections (something 1 intend to deal with in greater detail in my forthcoming book The Image Makers) and to rehearse lines of attack on Labour that might subsequently be used in the general election.
The campaign was carefully audited by Harris Research with encouraging results. Voters were asked at the start and end of the campaign what their greatest fears were of a possible Labour government. Three figures increased significantly over the period of the campaign: that Labour was 'poorly led'; that it was 'subject to left-wing influence'; and that a Labour government would 'lead to higher taxes'. In addition general Voting Intention fi- gures revealed that the campaign played a part in reducing the gap (18 points in May) between the parties to eight points (Labour 46 per cent; Conservative 38 per cent; September Harris poll). Mr Malcolm went on to write that the Tories have been searching for some time for useful evidence of Labour's socialistic instincts and praises Michael Howard for 'finally' finding the answer. Now it is true that Mr Howard (together with Ken Clarke) is clearly one of the stars of the Major Cabinet, but in exploiting Labour's relationship with the trade unions, he is simply repeating his excellent and effective contribution to 'Summer Heat' the year earlier.
Central Office's argument was and is that Labour's Front Bench are prepared to say or do almost anything to avoid another humiliating period out of office, but have not lost their basic instincts for higher taxes, more government intervention and greater power for their trade union paymasters. It is a good argument for my successor to promulgate and one that I believe will ultimately be successful.
Having dealt with past Tory strategy to his satisfaction, if not to mine, Mr Malcolm turned his attention to nouveau regime Tory matters, particularly Europe. He wrote that the 'new' party is enthusiastic of European federalism. If this were true I (and many others) would have left the Party. The problem that divides the Party is the enthusiasm for policies like a single currency that will lead to a federal political union. Some like myself are desperately worried about the direction we seem to be headed for, but are hopeful that we are wrong. Others are content and hope we are right. Fudge abounds pre-Maastricht, mais apres ca, le deluge?
Brendan Bruce
4 Eaton Terrace Mews, London SW1
Previous page
