Quote Originally Posted by Banquo's Ghost View Post
I don't disagree with you that there is that money and more to be saved from the public sector. My contention is that the Conservatives this time around won't be tough enough to make the necessary decisions if even Mrs Thatcher shied away. They wave a policy about that they have not the capability to impose.

As you show, Labour certainly aren't up to it. If the Tories were, they would be announcing radical cuts without fear or shame. There can never be a more appropriate time than now to challenge the voters to accept the harsh realities and engage the spirit of the British to face up to hardship together. Why haven't there been strikes and riots across Ireland, the people of which are facing vicious austerity measures? Because they know the country is a busted flush, and everyone - public and private sector - is facing the same cuts and loss of salary. Most Irish are only a generation away from real Third World poverty. Have the British grown so fat and lazy that they wouldn't re-visit a Dunkirk spirit to regenerate the country?

Such a call, and the hard decisions and confrontations that would inevitably follow would require a leader of utter conviction and a high degree of charisma and communication skill. That is not Cameron nor Osborne. In fact, I couldn't point to anyone on the shadow front bench who might make a go of it.
absolutely agreed.

if you know that your party, if elected, will have to makes some deeply unpolular changes then the only to implement this is to go into an election seeking a mandate from the people to make those changes.

its is why i have so much sympathy with the mission of the excellent critical reaction blog when they say the following:
http://critical-reaction.co.uk/2502/...tical-reaction
At Critical Reaction we not only want David Cameron to campaign as a Conservative and be elected as a Conservative. We even hope he will govern as a Conservative.
I am not a floating voter, i don't need the tory brand to be 'decontaminated', therefore I am not a huge fan of this new image of cuddly-conservatism.