Blackpool here we come!
We are all off to Blackpool on Sunday for the start of Conference.
Every recent conference I have been to has been billed as either 'make or break' or 'critical to our survival' and this one is no exception.
But honestly! As someone who has had to stand in front of a TV crew and defend IDS after his toe-curling 'the quiet man is turning up the volume' speech I can say that the one thing I am not concerned about is whether the event goes well -it will.
Cameron may have faults -but speaking in public isn't one of them; I am as confident as I can be that the set piece speeches will be excellent and come across very well. There are no major policy divisions and no contentious fringe meetings. I have discounted the possibility of another stupid 'stunt' by Labour - perhaps another defection for Monday for instance, and so have most of the media.
I am slightly less confident about the behaviour of one or two old Tory rightwingers but their harping protests have become so much of a tradition at Conferences that most people have become deaf to them.
One is always in the hands of the media editors - if they decide it's all about internal bickering then that is what the TV screens and newspapers will say - but I really think the media -especially the broadcast media- have swallowed enough Labour spin to give them a bit of indigestion in the last week or two and the story therefore might just be one of policy and content rather more than endless election speculation.
Of course there is the remote possibility that Brown may yet call an election next week - that might turn out to be a 'stunt' too far for many people in Britain.
We will soon find out.
Every recent conference I have been to has been billed as either 'make or break' or 'critical to our survival' and this one is no exception.
But honestly! As someone who has had to stand in front of a TV crew and defend IDS after his toe-curling 'the quiet man is turning up the volume' speech I can say that the one thing I am not concerned about is whether the event goes well -it will.
Cameron may have faults -but speaking in public isn't one of them; I am as confident as I can be that the set piece speeches will be excellent and come across very well. There are no major policy divisions and no contentious fringe meetings. I have discounted the possibility of another stupid 'stunt' by Labour - perhaps another defection for Monday for instance, and so have most of the media.
I am slightly less confident about the behaviour of one or two old Tory rightwingers but their harping protests have become so much of a tradition at Conferences that most people have become deaf to them.
One is always in the hands of the media editors - if they decide it's all about internal bickering then that is what the TV screens and newspapers will say - but I really think the media -especially the broadcast media- have swallowed enough Labour spin to give them a bit of indigestion in the last week or two and the story therefore might just be one of policy and content rather more than endless election speculation.
Of course there is the remote possibility that Brown may yet call an election next week - that might turn out to be a 'stunt' too far for many people in Britain.
We will soon find out.
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2 comments:
I think the media have worked themselves into a frenzy about an election and unfortunately for us the story is all about tory trouble rather than Labours lies.
I will be hanging over my email ready to complain to the BBC at the slightest hint of bias next week and I urge all of your supporters to do the same
It was interesting to hear the appalling Jim Naughtie interview George Osborne this morning. He could barely manage to be polite.
Naughtie is completely up himself and it's about time he was cut down a bit
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