Cameron’s “Baldwinesque” speech

Something rather Baldwinesque about David Cameron’s speech – no real flights of rhetorical fancy, praise for his Coalition partners, desperately trying to avoid any appearance of being ideological. Sure there were some riffs against Labour and some swipes at Europe. But it was dominated by a conversational style which the team hopes will help them win the mantle of common sense. And when you look at the “National Interest” slogan plastered everywhere you think of the Macdonald/Baldwin National Government. It ushered in a period of extraordinary Tory dominance, of course.
Echoes of Lord Kitchener too in his “your country needs you” Big Society section.

Gone is the attack on Big Government only year ago. He’s against “statism” but only cutting because it’s necessary not from ideological zeal was the message.

He did try to remind the party troops that a Tory heart still beats – renewing Trident got a round of applause.
The big message for the country was that there is no alternative to the cuts programme. But follow it through and “rewards will be felt by everyone in our country.”

He slipped in a joke at Neil Kinnock’s expense – “red head not Red Ed” was the worry, he said.