Does Dave need better rhetoric on the Lansley plan?

A sure sign that you are losing an argument is when, like Cameron did at PMQs today, you accuse your opponent of “being opportunistic”.

After recent successes raising the NHS reforms it was clear that Ed Miliband was going to do the same today. The problem is that Cameron hasn’t found a way of dealing with it in a manner that resonates. He needs much more refined rhetoric.

Whenever the issue if the Tories and the NHS comes up I am reminded of David Herdson’s excellent PB post from last May in which he wrote:-

“..Gaining tentative public trust here (on the NHS) was a key part of the Tories’ detoxification strategy. As such, simply running it for five years without controversy would have firmed up public confidence, albeit at the cost of accepting Labour’s structures and plans.

Reform was therefore something the Conservatives chose to try, rather than was forced into doing. That was a significant gamble, not just because the reforms themselves might not prove successful but because the political capital placed on it would be lost even if the reforms never made it to the statute book…”

The problem is, of course, that there’s so much suspicion on the part of many voters about the Conservative commitment to the NHS that almost inevitably the party won’t be given the benefit of the doubt. As David says “running it for five years without controversy would have firmed up public confidence”.

It also inevitable that Ed is going to continue pressing on this and the signs are that he’s on the right side of public opinion.

Looking forward Labour are almost certainly going to make the NHS a key general election issue and whatever goes wrong in the next three and a quarter years will be blamed on the Lansley reform plan.

The Tories need to do something and fast.

@MikeSmithsonOGH

Could this be a difficult CON-LD issue?

There’s a report in the Telegraph this morning that could open up the divide on tax between the coalition partnets.

Under the heading “50p tax rate ‘failing to boost revenues” the paper reports that there was a £509m drop in tax paid by those paying by self-assessment last month with the suggestion that high earners have simply adjusted their affairs to get round the rate – first imposed towards the end of the Labour government.

Robert Winnett and James Kirkup write: “The self-assessment returns from January, when most income tax is paid by the better-off, have been eagerly awaited by the Treasury and government ministers as they provide the first evidence of the success, or failure, of the 50p rate. It is the first year following the introduction of the 50p rate which had been expected to boost tax revenues from self-assessment by more than £1 billion.

Although the official statistics do not disclose how much money was paid at the 50p rate of tax, the figures indicate that it is falling short of the money the levy was expected to raise.

A Treasury source said the relatively poor revenues from self-assessment returns was partly down to highly-paid individuals arranging their affairs to avoid paying the 50p rate.”

It was argued all along that this could be the consequence of making the tax increase for higher earners permanent. Now, apparently, there’s the data to back it up.

Politically this is difficult for all parties. The general line of clobbering the rich goes down well in the polling and it’s not so easy communicating the message that abolishing the top rate increases the tax take.

@MikeSmithsonOGH

Welcome once again to the cafe – our informal overnight thread where you set the agenda.

This is the latest from the Gallup daily tracking poll in the GOP race.

Republican presidential preference, national trend (Gallup tracking) #gop twitter.com/pollreport/sta…

— PollingReport.com (@pollreport) February 21, 2012

Have a good night.

@MikeSmithsonOGH

Recent Threads