Damocles was the courtier who told Dionysius the tyrant that his happiness was complete. Dionysius ordered Damocles to his banquet and sat him under a sword suspended by a single hair for the whole of dinner. I hope David Cameron is doing the same to any adviser who shows Damoclean tendencies. It is absolutely true that the Tories have done well, and that their leader has done better than any of them. This is the first time since John Major won the election of 1992 that any Tory leader has passed the second big test in his role (the first being to become leader at all). But almost all the volatility in the polls in the past fortnight was Tory volatility. Labour support remains steady, and at a level which, if replicated on the day, would still win Labour the election. The rise in Tory support comes mainly from the Liberals. Mr Cameron has worked quietly but hard to achieve this, but now there is time for the party to get rid of Ming Campbell. Clegg — or even perhaps Huhne — versus Cameron would be a tougher contest for the Tories. And Labour’s one success in its grotesque game this month has been to smoke out some Tory policies earlier than Mr Cameron wanted. So no, it’s not ‘jolly gloating weather’.
In fact, Labour is nowadays so ready to steal any policy which the Conservatives put forward that they must feel tempted to propose reactionary ideas as a tease, to see if there is anything too extreme to be picked up. What about the creation of new hereditary dukes (the title of York is taken, Mr Brown), or the restoration of the stocks on village greens? But at the same time as being copied by Labour, Tory policies are also excoriated by them, so the Conservatives need to be ready with a second barrel in each proposal.
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