Cameron’s Rope-A-Dope Strategy

Granted, Dave is no Muhammad Ali* and the idea of comparing Ed Miliband to George Foreman is one of the more preposterous notions ever conceived by man. Nevertheless, I wonder if Cameron, backed by his cornermen George and Nick, are playing rope-a-dope with Labour.

This may not have been what they envisaged when they took office last year and it may be a strategy developed in extremis and one forced upon them by a suddenly developed appraisal of their own weakness. Nevertheless, if it is a plan it is one that might work.

This thought was sparked by Fraser’s excellent post on the signs that the government has taken the first steps towards reframing the argument about cuts. This is the latest move in a long game. The government’s approval ratings aren’t terribly important right now except in as much as they can assist the coalition when it launches its counter-attack. Indeed, there’s a sense in which the more pressure the coalition feels right now, the better since – provided both partners keep their nerve, which might be the tricky bit – that pressure forces them together since the consequences of breaking-up must be dreadful.