Personalities or issues?
- 18 Sep 06, 09:32 AM
Behold! A debate is born.
It may prove hard to escape personalities and focus on issues this conference season. After all, it's Ming and David's first conferences - and Tony's last. Gordon and Charlie hover in the wings. And some wonder whether Alan or John or the other John may soon join the fray. Let's not, though, fail to notice that this is one of the most fertile periods for political debate in years.
This week the Lib Dems tax debate risks looking all too familiar - should they be to the left of Labour or the right? Bold on raising taxes or cautious? Defeat the new leadership or back it? In truth, for good or ill, the Lib Dems are carving out new political territory. They are boldly going where no party has gone before but where, I predict, all parties will soon follow.
They are considering taking the public at their green word and saying, "OK - you tell us that you're worried about the environment. So, we're going to tax you more to use your car and to fly". For centuries our leaders have turned from taxing windows, to taxing homes, cars, and pretty much everything else in search of revenue raising which meets the least resistance. If that's all the move green taxes is, it will not be bold at all. If though, it represents a serious attempt to change public behaviour, to consume and travel less, it really will be a bold political experiment. .
And it is far from the only interesting political debate in town. Last week Alan Milburn launched the debate about the future of New Labour which he's long demanded with a meaty speech. Next week a book of Gordon Brown's speeches is published proving that he's no slouch when it comes to ideas. (Guess what? I've read them all. I had to. I'm just finishing off a radio documentary called "What does Gordon really think?" - Radio 4 this Saturday at 11:00)
And now we hear the Cabinet are to be invited to join the debate - whatever next?
Even the Tories, who in recent years have tended to regard debate as another word for division, are starting to show an appetite for new ideas as David Cameron's policy reviews bears some early fruit.
Tony Benn always takes people like me to task for focussing on "the pershonalities" and not "the ishoos". My answer has always been that it's both that count. Over the next 3 weeks I've little doubt that personalities will get more coverage than issues but I'll be watching how the debate hots up.
