That Telegraph Letter

The Telegraph letter signed by a hundred business people and published on the opening day of the official election campaign was a clever piece of orchestration. It may well have been instigated by some of the signatories, but I have little doubt that Conservative HQ had a hand in it. If they didn’t they were asleep. It does raise a big question. This concerns the image of the Conservative Party, and I have to admit that the BBC’s brilliant team of reporters on the election got this right. On the one hand it looks a useful way of demonstrating how a change of government might jeopardise the economic recovery. On the other it may reinforce the conception that the Conservatives are the ‘party of big business’, the same big business that, in the form of the banks, caused the crash, and may be seen as exploiting both workers (zero hours contracts) and consumers (energy companies, oil giants etc.). It can play both ways. In the end, I suppose, one suspects it merely reinforces people’s existing prejudices rather than changing their minds. Labour’s rather muted response was probably the result of lack of preparation (though this kind of thing always happens before elections), but also their morbid fear of offending business people. The Conservatives have an advantage here in that this does not concern them. They are happy to support the business lobby because they see it as the engine of recovery. Labour is inevitably more hesitant, just as it is with unions. My gut feeling is that it will have no real effect but it is a dangerous game to play. We may see some results tonight in the great debate. All Cameron’s opponents are likely to seize on it as an example of Conservatives governing for the few rather than the many. Incidentally, if I were a Labour strategist, I’d be checking how many of the signatories pay their full whack of UK taxes. While I am on – a semi related matter. Who is Raheem Sterling trying to kid? It’s not about the money! I ask you. If he wants to play at the top he needs to brush up on his Spanish, and I say this as a Liverpool supporter!