I suspect the phrase decontaminating the brand makes most Coffee Housers want to decontaminate their screens. But I do think the Cameron strategist who told Conservative Home that ‘Only when the party has decontaminated itself as the party of the rich will we have the authority to attack the size of the state’ is right.
Fairly or unfairly, the Tory party–as the party’s own focus group show–is seen as the party of privilege by many swing voters. Two-thirds of the shadow cabinet are millionaires and to compound this perception problem, both the leader and the shadow chancellor come from moneyed backgrounds.
In these circumstances, it would be a huge liability for the Tories to go into the next election calling for cuts in public spending combined with an increase in the threshold for inheritance tax and bringing the top rate of income tax back to 40p for those earning over £150,000 a year.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in