Go home Cameron to think again

Published on Sunday 17 September 2006 00:58

HE MAY have appeared on every chat show in town and even - looking suspiciously chiselled - on the cover of GQ, but David Cameron remains a largely unknown quantity to Scottish voters. The Tory leader has made only rare excursions north of the Border, and from his speech in Glasgow last Friday, it appears we haven't been missing much: backward-looking, shallowly ingratiating and self-abasing, it was everything that Scots did not need or want to hear.

The man who aspires to spearhead a Conservative revival throughout the United Kingdom discoursed on such topics as the Highland Clearances, the poll tax, the way Scots banknotes are treated south of the Border and the "insult" to Scottish sensibilities posed by comedians like Russ Abbott. In short, he trotted out every clich in the book in a speech so laden with couthiness it could have been written by the members of a blue-rinse sewing bee.

In attempting to "engage" with a Scottish audience, Cameron aimed for Bishopbriggs but landed in Brigadoon. In doing so, he missed the fact that most Scots are forward-looking people who are heartily sick of politicians harping back to events of decades, and even centuries, ago to make their cheap points. The fact that too many homegrown politicians of all colours make the same mistake is no excuse.

Cameron's sole, sketchy policy contribution was to promise an answer to the West Lothian Question. Here, he was knocking at an open door: all the surveys show the overwhelming majority of Scots have no interest in legislating for Gloucestershire. Most objective commentators, on the other hand, agree that the Barnett Formula cannot survive. Yet Cameron launched into a dead-bat defence of it, instead of doing what an opposition leader should be doing - proposing a pre-emptive alternative that would appease English discontent while preserving Scotland's funding interests.

To say that Cameron's speech was light on policy would be a charitable understatement. It was also a wasted opportunity. The Tory leader was venturing into more receptive territory than his party's meagre representation of one MP and 17 MSPs might suggest. Only 50 years ago, the Tories were the dominant party in Scotland, and the 49% turnout at the last election showed our politics desperately need an injection of ideas, debate and imagination.

It might have been expected that the Leader of the Opposition, who has generated so much interest south of the Border, would have brought such stimulus to the Scottish political arena. His failure to do so was a major disappointment as, in the national interest, Scotland needs political diversity. You do not have to subscribe to any of the Tory principles of free enterprise, small government and individual empowerment - or desire a Conservative government - to recognise that a Tory revival would re-energise Scottish politics. Lack of opposition produces atrophy and laziness in government.

Cameron hailed devolution as "the settled will of the people" and claimed the Conservatives "are determined to make a success of Holyrood". Very kind of you, Mr Cameron - but how? Has he no concrete reform proposals for the parliament? He could have discussed energy policy, including the nuclear issue. He could have announced a crusade for reform of the public services as a key theme in next year's elections. He could have challenged the Chancellor, on his home turf, over taxation and welfare. He could have unveiled a comprehensive plan to help Scottish business. Instead, he gave us the Clearances and a worthless apology for the poll tax.

It would be premature to write off Cameron's chances in Scotland on the basis of this single speech, but for open-minded Scots, looking for a renaissance in public discourse, the inevitable response is to send him homeward to think again.