This post should have been made yesterday, but I was too knackered last night to upload it. The quote and the article in question are here
It occurs to me after reading the latest posts on Conservative Home that we are not entirely being fair to poor old Dave the Fokssss (spelling (c) the Basil Brush Show) and are behaving in the way a pack of hounds may do if they picked up his scent in the fields of Witney. This blog is biased against him, just like the "Brown Broadcasting Corporation" habitually picks on the Tories and should therefore have their pocket money stopped - whereas, of course, most of the commercial press are unbiased in saying Gordon should have a snap election that he can win now, saying it out of their own financial interests of course.
I can't reiterate my opposition to the license fee often enough, but the Tories are mistaking general grumbling about the license fee for full-on riots such as the poll tax protests if they think it is the hottest electoral issue this side of a recession. You've got a lot of work to do on policy, Dave, before you can get the bias against you stopped, I suggest you do it now while people are still listening, because if the cards are right then you are not going to see the next election as leader, even if it is called before Christmas. And I'm not saying this as someone funded or employed by the government - I WISH.
However, let's see later on if Labour are, in William Rees-Mogg's opinion, celebrating too early. For the moment, I have Foxy Dave's latest spread before me, so let's have a look.
P.S. at the end of the month I am off on a "fact-finding" tour of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia courtesy of my ever-generous grandmother. The fact-finding in question is a taste-test of all the zeppelins in Vilnius, which I haven't done since they entered the EU four-and-a-half years ago. The question is, do EU zeppelins taste better than non-EU zeppelins? Can this be assumed to be a measure of how much Eastern European dumplings have improved since accession? And will I avoid hospitalisation in Latvia this time? (DO NOT end up getting off with people in Vilnius bus station and then drinking Tallinn tap-water, because the porridge in Riga hospital is not very nice, too little salt and too much butter.) I will be blogging throughout, anything to give poor Dave a rest and give the hounds a drag hunt instead.
Cards are the Renaissance Tarot and the Julia Sharman-Burke exercise book "Tarot for Beginners".
Should Dave have distanced himself from redistribution of the license fee to other commercial broadcasters?
1. Cameron's current position. THE HIEROPHANT - "The Hierophant signifies the search for inner meaning and spiritual awareness. He stands for guidance on spiritual or emotional matters."
Cameron is trying to temper earlier radicalism with more realistic policies because he evidently finds himself in a situation where official policy is more extreme than he now feels is appropriate - oddly enough, as the debate grows more and more shrill over on Conservative Home, the Tories grow more and more lukewarm over reform. He has suddenly woken up to impracticalities in the scheme they originally proposed and now feels it is more appropriate to withdraw from plans which no longer give apparent value for money. He hopes to balance radicalism with pragmatism as the election approaches. An interesting and no doubt carefully considered move.
2. Defence of his moves. JUDGEMENT - "Judgement represents a time for personal evaluation and learning lessons gained through experience. It is a time to reap the rewards, or otherwise, for past efforts."
Moving on from the previous ideas, Cameron is - internally - trying to refocus attention on himself and his party and make the effort to change direction in full view. Given erosion of poll support and lukewarm backing for radical proposals, Cameron is probably trying to tone down the scale of policies based on new economic realities. Judgement suggests Cam has been put under pressure from somewhere to tone down his plans for the BBC because of other considerations, so judgement has evidently been passed by people behind the scenes who are concerned about the party's recent performance and the need for less radicalism and a more pragmatic stance.
3. Hidden fears. X CUPS (ill-dignified) - "The Ten of Cups reflects a state of contentment that has a sense of permanence. It is connected with a capacity to love, a generous spirit and the ability to give freely without counting the cost. This card also suggests a sense of gratitude for love given and received."
As an ill-dignified card the meaning of the card is reversed - so Cameron has something to fear by this policy and has thus backtracked from it, while still trying to highlight bias in the Sun article. Here the danger is lack of acceptance of this state and lack of gratitude - there isn't much scope for Cameron to change his mind at this stage but something is evidently problematic in the background to this. Either Cam thought he was moving too fast and needed to reassure people who want a more pragmatic approach, or the policy was rejected by those trying to sell the Conservative platform to voters outside the Westminster hothouse who care more about media opinion than more substantial policy. The policy is seen as too fancy to appeal to focus groups suddenly worried more about their bank accounts, savings and mortgages than more esoteric concerns.
4. Motivations in the first place. QUEEN OF WANDS - "The Queen of Wands suggests that a person who possessed her qualities of warmth, imagination and joie de vivre may enter your life, or that you are in need of developing such attributes."
The motivations for Cam to renege on this deal may have been a need to demonstrate a responsive, active role in policymaking given the memo leaked on Sunday regarding a need to buck up the party's profile and recycle old policies in the case where no new ones yet exist. (That this was followed so soon with a "repeat" of Andrew Lansley's idea to shorten the time between a new drug coming out and its availability on the NHS is proof that this policy has been put very quickly into effect despite the leak of the memo.) He needs to show the party thinking on its feet and participating in a policy auction with Labour, who have more executive power at their fingertips. There is a fear of appearing fossilised and unresponsive to the change in atmosphere. The Queen of Wands responds and reacts rather than dictates, so it may be a diminution of the leadership's power to make the headlines rather than an acceleration of policy publication.
5. What remains now of the policy? X PENTACLES - (ill-dignified) - "The Ten, number of completion, comes to its natural conclusion in the earthy suit of Pentacles [traditionally regarded as the "last" card in the tarot set]. There is a sense of permanence achieved partly through effort and partly through good fortune. In a reading, the Ten of Pentacles indicates a materially settled way of life which may include property sale or purchase. It can also refer to traditional values being established."
In this aspect - what remains - this is ill-dignified, and can be interpreted as the erosion of concrete policy because of fears or dithering. The issue of restructuring the funding of the BBC is salient but a minor issue compared to the general needs of the rest of the electorate (aside from a vocal, comfortable minority who can afford to focus on this). The small changes to this policy will not matter much in the long run but it is a waste of the agenda and may harm Cameron's reputation as a potential PM able to put things into operation in an executive capacity.
6. Immediate future. IV PENTACLES - "Within a reading the Four of Pentacles suggests a fear of loss, which may in fact have the effect of inhibiting gain. On one level it may refer to material possessions, while on another level it suggests that the way money is handled may link with emotional dealings. This card, therefore, can represent a tendency to be 'tight' with money or emotions. Traditionally it is known as the card of the miser."
The inhibitions belie any positive effect of reassessing the role of the license fee and the BBC. The caution and partial U-turn suggest a risk-averse climate which could alienate voters who do care about the license fee, while concentrating too much on this issue will alienate those who want the Conservatives to cover more pressing issues - health, education, social security - in bigger, bolder terms than they have done recently (is the length of time new drugs take to filter through to NHS prescriptions really a hot health-care issue? Nice work, Andrew, incidentally, but hardly a show-stopper). The Tories need to gamble with harder-hitting policies (where are their policies on childcare and maternity benefit like Michael Howard tried to talk about at this point in 2004?), answers to Labour (tax-cuts or Keynesianism? If they don't put out anything significant, will we have to swallow Keynesianism by default after years where monetarism has worked to modernise the economy?), innovation on the economy (such as Margaret Thatcher's new direction this time last cycle) - and stop being so shy about stating them.
7. Long term future. ACE OF SWORDS - "The Ace of Swords points to strength in adversity or a situation which initially looks unpromising yet has a positive outcome. This card is usually associated with a sense of the inevitability of great change. Although this change may initially be unwelcome, it is ultimately beneficial."
Something happens to break the deadlock and release some sort of radical rethink on the license fee and funding, but it seems to be a more drastic solution - and with other spreads taken into account probably decidedly unwelcome to the leadership - to this particular issue than the Tories necessarily want or can currently afford. The price of not risking coherent or consistent output is that, in the words of the popular internet meme, "in Soviet Conservative Party, Party leads YOU!"
