All the Tory hate aside, I don’t think he is really, he just seems to be interested in governing than an ideologue, I see him more as a version of Harold Macmillan than a Tony Blair or Margaret Thatcher.
In the last parliament he was restrained by having to be in alliance with the Lib Dems. So we’re only now seeing the true David Cameron. That said, he has thus far proved to be weak but manipulative as leader.
Ignoring his feculent brand of class conservatism: I was thinking about this earlier: one can stand conservatism of the older varieties, but he combines Scott Walkerism with suit-wearing pomposity — it is not the actual policies, no matter how ruinous and bad-tempered ( vide: this latest attack on tax credits, whereby he avows those affected will be better off with them withdrawn since employers will willingly pay them more ), as his finger-wagging moralizing and pious beliefs in what are very dubious propositions ( such as continued growth, or distrust in renewables just as they are exploding in capacity ).
Added to, as I mentioned elsewhere, his sure ability to misstep and warn enemies of his plans ( if one imagines he does plan ahead ); and make the wrong choices ( referendums in Scotland and for Europe ) instead of standing steady; combined with no discernible foreign policy (* ‘Let’s get Muammar !’ ‘Assad’s time is running out !’ ‘Putin must go !’* ) unless one counts incontinent emotion, means he is not formidable nor principled.
However if he is a laughing-stock to other foreign leaders, he seems untouchable at home — partly due to the media — and partially due to the fact ordinary people will forgive anything to those they perceive as making them wealthier. Teflon Dave indeed.
Man can sure fuck a pig, though.
I can see your point, as mentioned previously, it’s hard for me to hate a PM who is perceived as a bumbling fool, whose only mantra seems to be ‘More Thatcherism’
He’s not even succeeding at that.
To this American Anglophile political junkie, he definitely seems more of a technocrat than an ideologue, but not an especially skilled one. He lurches from crisis to crisis (sometimes - often? - self-inflicted). Not sure he has a driving motivation or ideology other than staying in office. He pays lip service to Thatcherism but probably realizes, deep down, that most British voters don’t want it as a governing model. He respects the monarchy and wants to be a good friend to the U.S., which I like.
Employers will be paying more whether they wish to or not, due to the large rises in the minimum wage that will occur over the next few years. It’s another move to make the system more transparent and less confusing, along with Universal Credit, although one that should be less difficult to introduce. Not to mention the increase in the tax threshold.
It ultimately makes more sense to have income mostly coming from employers, rather that taxing people then giving them some, all, or in some cases a greater amount than they were taxed back. It makes it impossible to see how much you should be earning, and difficult to make a decision on whether people are earning enough to live on.
That said, with the ridiculous bureaucracy at work in this country and the unwillingness of any government I’ve seen to tackle it, I can see it being just as badly handled as ESA or Universal Credit or every other reform that is, in theory, fairer and simpler but in practice doesn’t work.
He’s a typical neoliberal/austerian hack with some aristocratic degeneracy thrown in for good measure.
I agree. Although I would also have accepted “lying overentitled sack of shit”. Homelessness up 40% since 2010, food bank queues growing, but let’s give more money to the rich because…well, just because.
And his heir apparent George Osborne is far, far worse (the man booed by an entire stadium at the Paralympics three years ago). At this point Boris is starting to look almost palatable as a PM option by comparison.
Thats pretty much the story of every major leader for the past 20 years. Unfortunately this era of 24/7 news cycles encourage it.
Cameron is a political light weight. He can schmooze a room but real politicians find him out immediately. He has no interest in detail, he has no political creed - just a class/tribal loyalty.
He’s the smooth-talking salesman in this snake oil operation. The brains of the operation is Osbourne, but Osbourne has as much schmooze as the Grim Reaper. Not least because he is.
He’s either massively over-loyal, or is so weak that he can’t act in removing disastrously incompetent ministers like IDS and Jeremy Hunt.