It is interesting watching PMQs at the moment because it is like observing two opposing generals trying to fight entirely separate battles. Some of Cameron’s lines are starting to sound frankly tired, but he is at his sharpest on the subject of welfare reform.
If you talk to any of Labour’s key strategists, they’ll tell you that one of the reasons the party lost the last election was because many of its traditional supporters thought its leaders were more interested in supporting and promoting the interests of the work-shy than the hard-pressed, hard-working majority.
In the light of this, Labour’s opposition to welfare reform looks pretty suicidal. Labour MPs would argue they agree with the central thrust of the reforms, but oppose some measures on principle. This may be so, but it’s a hard nuance to get across to the public, most of whom are enthusiastically supportive of welfare reform, to say the least. No wonder that David Cameron keeps banging on about it.
Ed Miliband, by contrast, takes a similar approach to the NHS. You can almost see in David Cameron’s face that he wishes he (or rather Andrew Lansley) had never got started on NHS reform and the Labour leader is keen to press home his advantage on the subject.
Politics at the moment (with the exception of the distractions provided by the days of banker bashing) is therefore consumed by these two separate conflicts. The government is already getting the credit for welfare reform and that is unlikely to change. But if the NHS reforms blow up in its face, it can probably kiss goodbye to the chances of winning a majority at the next election.
Tags: Andrew Lansley, david cameron, ed miliband, labour, PMQ, tom bradby