Lamont calls for more Tory policies
David Cameron needs to develop “more policies more quickly” if he is to persuade people to vote for the Conservatives, Norman Lamont has warned.
The former Tory chancellor said that while the new leader was making the party more voter-friendly, he must go further in developing concrete policies, particularly on law and order, taxation and immigration.
Mr Cameron launched a series of policy reviews when he became Tory leader last December, which are not due to report until next year. In the meantime, he has refused to get into any detail, although he has made clear the direction in which he intends to go.
“I think it’s wise to take your time on policy – you don’t want to come out too early with your detailed ideas because they are liable to get lifted by the opposition,” Mr Lamont told epolitix.com.
“Having said that, I accept the point that he has got to develop more policy content. He is a charismatic leader, he has done well in making the Conservative party more voter-friendly but I think we do need more policies more quickly.”
He said the Tories must develop “ideas that are attractive”, based around the idea of the smaller state that is “at the heart of Conservatism”.
“The challenges are obviously different today compared to Mrs Thatcher’s time but it would be a mistake to assume that these are calmer, less troublesome times,” Mr Lamont said.
“There are things that need tackling and what Cameron has to show is that he has the policies to deal with those issues.
“He is going to have to come forward with some policies on law and order, to deal with the high level of taxation and I don’t believe immigration can be kept off the agenda. John Reid rightly said that it was a silly idea that anyone who talks about it is a racist.”
In the policy announcements that Mr Cameron has made, he has clearly broken with Margaret Thatcher’s government in stating that there “is such thing as society, it’s just not the same as the state”, while this weekend he criticised her opposition to Nelson Mandela and the ANC in the 1980s.
But he has also announced plans to extend the right-to-buy, a key Thatcherite policy, and today Mr Lamont warns of the dangers of breaking too much with the old Conservative party, regardless of the need to update the Tories for the 21st century.
“You have to balance your appeal to open-minded voters who can be persuaded to switch their vote with keeping one’s core voters as well. Core voters have the option of abstention, which is a rapidly growing party in the British political system,” he said.
