How do you move on from a week of torrid headlines over a power struggle between senior No. 10 aides and a recently departed Chancellor? The old Tory playbook – mastered by Boris Johnson’s former election guru Lynton Crosby – would suggest throwing a dead cat. The dead cat strategy used when a party wishes to change the conversation by any means necessary. The idea is that by the time it’s done people will stop talking about the thing you want to move away from and instead become distracted and effectively go: ‘Jeez, mate, there’s a dead cat on the table!’
It’s worth remembering this device when considering that we are in day three of No. 10’s latest BBC row. Pundits, broadcasters and some Tories have gone public to express concern over a report in the Sunday Times quoting a senior Downing Street source stating that the government is ready to ‘whack’ the BBC licence fee.
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