In an embarrassing speech about multiculturalism, prime minister David Cameron has managed to forget which football team he supports. For years, his spin machine described Dave as a lifelong and passionate Aston Villa supporter, so why on earth did he suddenly announce to Sky News viewers that he would prefer it if people supported West Ham United instead? It’s simple: he was trying to be what he wasn’t. Politicians of all persuasions do it.
Remember when Gordon Brown was asked what was on his iPod and he replied the Arctic Monkeys. Maybe Sheffield’s finest really were among his playlists but it just didn’t resonate. It was unbelievable.
This wretched election campaign is going on forever and it seems that some politicians are doing everything humanly possible to avoid meeting real people. Cameron’s advisors have obviously done their home work and they are ensuring that there are no circumstances under which he might encounter anything controversial. He doesn’t debate with anyone, he only ever appears at scheduled meetings, his phalanx of minders surround him on the few occasions he is seen in public – it’s an incredibly odd campaign where the public are of secondary consideration. There are two reasons for this.
One is that Cameron’s people don’t want a “Gillian Duffy moment”, as Brown did when he was asked about immigration by a normal member of the public, got back in his car, forgot his microphone was switched on and then referred to her as “that bigoted woman”. And, given his notoriously quick temper, they don’t want him thumping someone, a la John Prescott. (Personally, I wish he would punch someone, but I suspect he would be to concerned that his excessive make up might run.)
The second is that Cameron doesn’t do detail. He is a skilled actor and looks good in a suit, but beyond the veneer there is little substance. He has no real strategy or aims for the country beyond securing power. Keeping his rabid anti-European wing onside as well as all but abandoning the political union with Scotland are of little consequence to Cameron who wants to lead because he thinks he’d be good at it. What an ambition. How else could you explain this bizarre campaign where Cameron rushes from town to town but is then ushered into a building with carefully screened supporters and no one else?
A consultant oncologist called Dr Clive Peedell is running against Cameron in his leafy Witney constituency for the NHS party, but the Tories won’t allow him to debate with Cameron, anymore than they will let him debate Ed Miliband. And this is a church organised event. The devout, when it suits him, PM refuses to have anything to do with it.
Not good enough, Dave. You are not the only one, of course. Blair was similarly cosseted in 1997 during Labour’s landslide win and Cameron’s henchmen are trying to repeat the trick.
Someone needs to remind these politicians that they are supposed to be our representatives, not our rulers. They are supposed to do what we tell them, not the other way round. That’s one of the things that is so wrong with the remnants of our democracy and it needs to change soon before everyone completely loses faith in politics.
