Tories To Tread Carefully Or Suffer Electoral Disaster?

This article has little to do with Ushaw Moor memories but it is written by a lad that walked the Ushaw Moor walk in the 50s and what a walk it was. Some of the windows in Temperance Terrace looked a bit rough; window curtains were not universal and I saw many a newspaper headline up at windows on my way to school. It was a time before Tax Credits and Supplementary Benefits  as we now understand them. If you were in work the food on the table was tolerable but if you were not...

The then Tory prime minister said we had never had it so good, but be that as it may, at one point one of our neighbours could not afford a custard tart from the travelling shop and mum helped out with a penny that made all the difference. Even though my step-father was in regular work I found myself on the eve of a school cup final without football boots.

Tuesday will be a big day for the coalition; cuts there will be but where will they apply? There is a hint that the middle classes will take some pain and many of them can no doubt adjust to it. If cuts are fair to society, as a whole, then that is to the good but it still begs the question: will the timing and scale of them be wise? I do hope Mr Osborne has some wise advisers because the decisions to be made are immensely complex in that one thing can adversely affect another so easily. I see it as an opportunity for the modern updated Tories to come out and show us what they are. It was not that long ago that they were poised to financially disintegrate;  they had been seen for what they were so surely now they must chart a socially fair course; the alternative might be a public backlash the like of which have not been seen for a while. 

With regard to coming out the Prime Minister was all over the place recently regarding Gays. He blustered over his past record of voting and even asked for the interview to restart. That in itself suggests spin over leadership. Currently Tory spin is particularly good but the substance has to be revealed and we shall see what we shall see over the next year or so.  

WB