An eerie silence has descended upon Westminster. Eyes that are normally popping out on stalks have ceased to swivel. Ruddy faces usually contorted in rage have become more like beacons of serenity. And the green portcullised carpets have been spared the usual foam specked gnashing of Tory teeth. The loonies have returned to their wards. Of course they still loathe Cameron. But he is beginning to look like a winner. And nobody wants to be seen to rock the boat. Well, not just yet.
This has been a terrible couple of weeks for all the other parties. Labour’s mansion tax has been ripping them apart. When Diane Abbott joins forces with the Prince of Darkness whom she would not piss on if he was on fire, Miliband is in serious trouble. Unemployment is plummeting, with more jobs being created in the UK than the whole of the EU. Well, in England anyway. In the Labour fiefdom of Wales unemployment has risen by 9000 and in SNP controlled Scotland by 7000. With inflation the lowest in 50 years and energy prices falling without statutory intervention, wages are beginning to catch up. By the time of the election the cost of living peg on which what passes of Labour’s economic policy hangs would have fallen off the wall. Couple this with the gushing praise for Cameron by Obama and Osborne’s economic successes lauded by by the IMF and there are the beginnings of a hope that Cameron could achieve a working majority. But there is always the unexpected unexpected. The Eurozone is still in critical care. I foresee no chance of economic stability in the near future. And they are our largest market.
Then there there was the remarkable double whammy from the Bank of England. Inflation could be zero by April and there will be no interest rises for a long while to come.
It has been an appalling week for UKIP. Many of us predicted that the cerebral and rather decent Douglas Carswell would tire of the crazy antics of Farage and be shocked atthe the soft and repellent rump of unpleasantness that has become the hallmark of the KIPPERS. Farage has lost his chief policy maker, has cocked up on the NHS, and has had his ‘foreigners are nicking our jobs’ fox shot and buried under a couple of tons of concrete. There are 700,000 job vacancies. Worse, the Greens, who really are a bunch of crackpots, are taking votes from Labour and UKIP.
But this is going to a vile and dishonest election. Nick Robinson is not a liar. And if he says that Miliband told him that he plans to weaponise the NHS, something that he has not denied, then it was said. It will haunt him. But Andy Burnham’s tactics are an utter disgrace. To accuse the Tories of privatisation of the NHS at the expense of patients is a lie. He signed off the Circle deal. He was in charge when the horrors of Mid Staffs was occurring. And he damn well knows that his government would be spending precisely the same amount as the Coalition. To frighten the elderly and vulnerable to grub a few votes is despicable. He is going to have a tough election, particularly if the MAIL story that Labour supporters sabotaged Circle is proved. Tonight’s party political broadcast borders upon the wicked. There is only one party leader who does not believe that health should be free at the point of delivery and that is Farage. What a dreadful little man.
