Treasures from the threads - Number twenty-eight.

In response to another limp, lank and lame article in the Sunday Telegraph by the vapid leader of the UK Conservative party, here, comes this :-

Dr Jonathan Wilson Esher Surrey

on December 28, 2008

at 09:17 AM

MR. CAMERON It pains me to write this but you still do not �get it� Don�t misunderstand me - you have pointed out the irresponsible borrowing of Mr. Brown, his lack of fiscal prudence and his barefaced deceitfulness. These are facts that the electorate have now well understood. What they are yearning to hear from you is something that goes much further than the obvious. But what do they hear from you? Simply the repeated phrases �responsible government� and �responsible business� Only an accountant would build an election platform on the word �responsible� Being responsible merely allows you to be in the race, it certainly will not win the race for you. But it is worse than that. You do not go on and truly define what you mean by responsible government. You do mention fiscal responsibility as a dimension of responsible government and chasing down the bad guys in corporate UK. But David do you really believe that these issues are election winners? Again they allow you to be in the race, but of themselves they will not win you the race. No David, the electorate wants to hear you take up the clarion call of the freedom of the individual as against the size and oppression of the State. But this is where it becomes increasingly obvious that you do not �get it� What is the evidence/? The evidence is that there is no evidence in your article that you see the State as Labour has constructed it as the essence of the problem. You do not seriously attack the size of the State or go on to defining the role of the State and thereby scope out the magnitude of the economic waste currently being caused by the State. The chilling conclusion that one is left with is that you endorse big government � maybe a little smaller than Labour would have it but not by much � which still leaves it as the elephant in the room. And yet standing up for individual freedom (and yes responsibility) is not merely another factor that qualifies you to be in the race but indeed is the very factor that will guarantee your victory in the race. Your economic message lacks a genuine roadmap back to prosperity that most of the electorate is waiting to hear from you. That roadmap starts with the individual and their freedoms.