Joyce McMillan: David Cameron grasps the thistle at last
David Cameron: the most effective Unionist in Scotland? Picture: Ian Rutherford
The Prime Minister may be an Old Etonian Tory, but he is the most effective Unionist in Scotland, writes Joyce McMillan
A WEEK, as we all know, is a long time in politics; yet there may still be a few of you who can remember the distant days of 2005, when a fresh-faced young chap called David Cameron began to campaign for the leadership of the Conservative Party. Times were good then, you may recall; there was no need to talk much of public spending cuts, or to hack away at the welfare state.
Instead, David Cameron’s mission – after three successive election defeats – was to “detoxify” the Tory brand, by seeming to take the party back towards the centre ground of British politics. So he began to speak the language of old-fashioned, inclusive, one-nation Toryism, a touch posh and paternalistic, but kindly, liberal-minded, and not driven by rabid free-market ideology.
He spoke of his devotion to the NHS, and flew to the Arctic to express his concern for the environment; and in 2010, he duly became Prime Minister, after entering into a historic pact with the Liberal Democrats.
In recent times, though, that version of David Cameron has often been eclipsed by his less pleasant alter ego, the Flashman-style public school bully who likes beating up the opposition at Prime Minister’s Questions, and who turns on the charm only to defuse opposition to some of the most right-wing social and economic policies ever introduced by a British government.
So it was something of a surprise, yesterday lunchtime, to see the one-nation version of David Cameron suddenly born again, in his Edinburgh speech on the future of the Union. Speaking from the rooftop conference suite of a Grassmarket hotel, his head framed by a spectacular view of Edinburgh Castle, the Prime Minister reverted in a trice to the language of his early campaigning days: warm, passionate, inclusive, deeply liberal.
He love-bombed Scotland with references to our mighty contribution to the history of the Union.
He talked eloquently of the ever-closer personal and economic links between England and Scotland, with the obligatory personal reference to the history of his own family. He freely confessed his party’s political weakness in Scotland, and – in a rare flanking move in British politics – paid lavish and slightly surreal tribute to great past Scottish politicians from other parties, name-checking Keir Hardie and James Maxton, among others.
He referred to himself as a “sensible unionist” who wants to see devolution developed and strengthened, if that is what Scots want. And he affirmed with feeling that he has no interest at all in being “Prime Minister of England”. He repeatedly called the UK “our shared home” and said that he would fight with everything he had to save the Union.
Battle is joined, in other words, between David Cameron and Alex Salmond, over the future of Scotland; and although it is strangely flattering for us Scottish voters to have the two most effective politicians currently operating in Britain vying for our affections, the question has to be whether the Prime Minister’s intervention will have any impact on the SNP’s growing dominance in Scottish politics, or will – as so many SNP supporters presume – prove to be irrelevant, at best.
There are certainly dozens of reasons for Scots to be sceptical about the substance of David Cameron’s speech, which referred to the UK nations as being “stronger, richer, and fairer” together. National strength is a debatable asset if we end up squandering it in vainglorious foreign wars. Wealth in the UK is so ill-divided that extreme inequality is fast becoming a national scandal; and it’s precisely because Scots believe in fairness that they reject the politics of David Cameron’s party.
As for the Prime Minister’s effort to play the 1979 Alex Douglas-Home card of promising more and better devolution if only we vote “no” this time – well, the success or failure of that manoeuvre will depend on the length of our political memories.
Scotland’s SNP government would be very ill-advised, though, in the face of the Cameron campaign, to listen only to the self-reinforcing voices of their own supporters telling one another that Cameron is an old Etonian irrelevance, and that Scots will react negatively to anything he says. His intervention certainly comes late; and it highlights the continuing abject failure of the Unionist parties in Scotland to make anything like a coherent and progressive argument for the Union.
Yet in terms of its political positioning, and the quality of its language, this Cameron speech was better than good; it was outstanding, in its grasp of the truth that in order to win this argument, any British Prime Minister must seem to speak from the centre or centre-left of British politics, must talk the language of cultural diversity and inclusion, must seem open to continuing constitutional reform, and must appear to be defending Britain not because he thinks Scotland incapable of surviving on its own, but because he loves the shape, the history and the potential of the UK as it is.
And although political analysts and activists may easily spot the flaws and contradictions in David Cameron’s argument, it’s worth remembering that in Scotland as elsewhere, the vast majority of people are not interested in the detail of politics. What they see instead is the mood of a debate, the personalities, the imagery, the odd sound-bite; indeed
It’s because of his own skill in creating a general positive mood around the idea of Scotland’s future that Alex Salmond is First Minister today. And now, for the first time in a decade, he has a Unionist opponent who is seriously challenging that narrative, and trying, in culturally rich and resonant language, to conjure up similar positive imagery around the idea of a continuing United Kingdom.
It’s possible that what David Cameron delivered in Edinburgh yesterday – admittedly against poor competition – is the strongest explcitly Unionist speech made in Britain since the 1950’s. And if the First Minister and his party imagine that there are no Scots left who will pause and listen to that mood-music, and perhaps be influenced by it, then they have not read their opinion polls; nor do they know the cautious and pragmatic temper of the nation they govern, and aspire to lead towards ever-greater independence.
Email to a friend
Print this page- Family mourn death of Glasgow ‘fight’ schoolboy
- Rangers takeover: Duff & Phelps threaten legal action against BBC
- Today’s youth not fit to be employed, says car firm Arnold Clark
- Rangers administration: Fans fear Duff & Phelps claims could scare off Green
- Rangers takeover: triple penalty punishment enough, says Johnston
- Alistair Darling leads ‘No to independence’ fight over tea and biscuits
- Scottish independence: SNP flip-flops over Nato
- Scottish Independence: SNP ‘won’t be Yes campaign’s only voice’
- Scottish independence: Alex Salmond’s pledge to sign up 1m voters
- Today’s youth not fit to be employed, says car firm Arnold Clark
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Edinburgh
Sunday 27 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North east
Comments
There are 50 comments to this article
Page 1 of 4
neoloon
Monday, February 20, 2012 at 02:56 PMGaffe-prone Cameron,by saying what he did on Thursday,by accident or design,must now come forward with clear and guaranteed "devo-max" proposals before the referendum vote in 2014.To fail to do so will result in the majority of "devo-max" supporters voting Yes for independence. Another victory for Salmond.
mordor
Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 02:44 PMA member of the trendy wine bar brigade clutching at straws methinks. She is though right to say that a great number of Scots are one-nation tories without a one-nation tory party to vote for: hopefully after independence they will be able to create one as the lack of a respectable centre-right party that Scots feel they can vote for is a democratic deficit to my mind.
samcoldstream
Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 01:06 PMThe Tory Prime Minister of the Tory Lib-Dem Coalition is the 4th choice leader of the Conservative Party. The Tory Party was beginning to look like a failing, relegated football club which, time after time, had chosen the wrong manager. Remember Save the Pound Hague, Duncan-Smith the Quiet Man, and Howard Something of the Night. In 2010, the result of the General Election was inconclusive. Call me Dave failed to convince a sufficient number of voters to cast their franchise for the Tory Party and give it outright victory. The Tories are being propped up by the weak Lib-Dems. The Prime Minister is exactly what he appears: a wealthy, privileged, millionaire Old Etonian. A throwback to the 1950s. He did not fool the mass of Scots voters and his sidelined Scottish Party still failed to regain voters confidence. After Brown's disastrous time in power, everyone thought it would be a foregone conclusion for Cameron. IF, the Scots Tory Party was not so despised North of the Border, Cameron's party might well have returned more than ONE single, solitary, MP and given the Tories an overall majority. Thatcher's time in Office has resulted in a terrible political legacy which the despairing ScotsTory Party still cannot escape.
Kinghob
Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 08:39 AMI watched the writer of this article on news net-while Cameron's speech was ok it is hardly groundbreaking to have him speak 'nicely' (like he had a choice when in Edinburgh) behind a backdrop of his own bizarre misleading comments and those of his fellow Tories, Labour bedfellows and the so called 'Lords' for the last 8 months.............the damage to the idea of a political union cannot be undone by an occasional common sense humbler speech once in a while.
SlowNeutron
Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 01:25 AMSorry but have I missed the point here, folks... is the article actually intended to be ironic - or whit???
SlowNeutron
Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 01:24 AM"the vast majority of people are not interested in the detail of politics. What they see instead is the mood of a debate, the personalities, the imagery, the odd sound-bite; indeed" Well, Dave will keep them happy for that's what he delivered, sadly it was all he delivered.
SlowNeutron
Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 01:21 AM"Yet in terms of its political positioning, and the quality of its language, this Cameron speech was better than good; it was outstanding" Were they handing oot drugs to the press core, hen???
SlowNeutron
Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 01:17 AM"It’s possible that what David Cameron ...... the strongest explcitly Unionist speech made in Britain since the 1950’s." Eh???? Whit???? Seriously??? ----- I usually listen to "any old" talk radio in the car but this patronising verbal shortbread tin soon joined the Archers and David Starkey on my "turn off immediately" list.
SlowNeutron
Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 01:08 AM"The Prime Minister may be an Old Etonian Tory, but he is the most effective Unionist in Scotland" --- faint praise, indeed.
Marga
Friday, February 17, 2012 at 10:18 PMForget Dave, keep peoples' eyes fixed on England. Scots do not seem to have taken in what is happening there. That's where the SNP are the real life savers of the Scottish social fabric - but by this stage they should also be outlining inspiring creative but realistic policies that will make a real difference to Scotland: Iain McWhirter in this week`s article seems to be pointing to land reform, for example.
muppetfinder
Friday, February 17, 2012 at 10:08 PMtoyboy cougar
Tartanfox
Friday, February 17, 2012 at 05:06 PMRuth Davidson was adamant during her leadership campaign that devolution would go no further, what has changed in a few weeks? We must not fall for Cameron's trap and empty promises - It is an absolute disgrace that the Unionist parties in Scotland are like scared rabbits in the headlights of independence. It is essential that we get the referendum process sorted out first before moving on to a balance well informed debate. I'm glad that Cameron has conceded that Scotland could go it alone if they chose independence. Most people living in Scotland see themselves as Scottish so the British emotion will not fool them. It is early days yet and no rush for the SNP they must keep the heid and listen to Scotland and avoid coming over as arrogant. The SNP will have three Party Conferences to sort out their policies. Good article from Joyce McMillan
Charles P
Friday, February 17, 2012 at 04:14 PMThe author of this article, a decent woman, is dying to say what she really thinks but the politics of her employer prevent that. I prefer John Snows' assessment of Camerons' offer, 'Well, it's shaped like a Carrot and it's coloured like a Carrot, but it doesn't appear to have anything inside it!' Anybody falling for this guff would need to be a real Dunkey!
samcoldstream
Friday, February 17, 2012 at 04:06 PMIt looked very much like the PM left the organisation of his patronising public appearances to the bumbling Scottish Tory Party? The ventriloquist's dummy was also seen in fawning adoration of the REAL leader of the Scots Tory Party. After all these years of being avoided and ignored like low caste political Dalits, the toxic Scots Tories have still failed to get the message? Nobody votes for a proxy imitation of the real thing.
Pilrig.
Friday, February 17, 2012 at 03:53 PMMebbe Joyce should remember that Dave's job prior tae goin' intae politics was as a pr man. This is the dame who keeps goin' on aboot social values and the evils o' conservatism. Yet she falls hook, line and sinker for a guy whae's party is introducin' - to quote Joyce - " the most right-wing social and economic policies ever introduced by a British government. " But never mind that as long as the Union is safe, eh Joyce ?
Page 1 of 4
Your view
Please sign in to be able to comment on this story.