The Wardman Wire

Time to sharpen the knifes?

With just a couple of days to go until the next disaster to hit Gordon Brown’s leadership, even the most ardent of Brownites has to start thinking how much more can we take of this? If the polls are right, the Tories aren’t just going to win a Labour safe seat on Thursday, they are going to romp it. If that is the case, then I think the Frank Fields of this world can put away their sharp tongues and they can start to sharpen their knives.

If the local elections were the turning point for new Labour, then the Crewe & Nantwich election could well be the tipping point: the point of no return.

Something in the air

You see, there is something in the air right now. A whiff if blood. And the electorate want to see that blood. There is an almost unpleasant sense of joy in watching New Labour unravel – even though we are the victims of a faltering government, every time Brown and his men mess up there is sense that we are a secretly pleased it seems.

The electorate want blood so much that they are egging the Tories on to win, and win big. Not so much because we all suddenly love the Tories – far from it. The Tories are still only popular in the south in any large numbers. Many people are still sceptical of David Cameron and what he stands for, including some Tories. There are still plenty of people who are yet to get over the Thatcher years even. But right now it is the Tories who can be the weapon for the people’s want and need to give Brown and New Labour a good kicking.

A joy in self harming

I would even go as far as to say that deep down in a very dark and misty cove of our inner selves we want the economy to slip a little; we want the government to make some mistakes that will affect real people; we are secretly pleased when the government announces another tax increase or poorly thought out piece of legislation that resonates with the electorate like a rather painful club round the head.

Don’t get me wrong – I do not think that people are enjoying have their pay packets diminish before their very eyes. Far from it; but it seems the only way to give Brown and new Labour a good kicking is for this to happen. And we are all getting a bit of joy out of watching this dour man’s lifelong dream fall apart before his very eyes – even it does mean we are the real losers in all this in the short term.

Rational and logical thinking is irrelevant

There is no rational and no logic to this thinking, but we are not always rational or logical beings. It is something, not uniquely but very definitely British about watching a man who has struggled all his life to make it to a position that was denied to him for so long only to laugh and enjoy it when he fails. It has always struck me as slightly ironic that there is no word in the English language for schandenfraude despite it being a most English of concepts. And right now, that British love for schandenfraude has rarely been greater. Gordon Brown is the You’ve Been Framed of politicians – no one wants someone to get hurt, but it is still bloody funny when you see it.

Using the Tories for our own enjoyment

So against all the logic and reason it seems that Labour will get a good pasting on Thursday. This despite the fact that this is a safe Labour seat that is going to by-election as a result of a very popular Labour MP passing away. By all rights the Tories should stand no chance.

After all, they have promised to continue with Labour spending plans when they get in to power, never backed the 10p tax rate in the first place and would have as much control over the economy as the current government do right now, i.e. very little. But that is missing the point entirely – when the electorate get a whiff of blood they want to see it and the Tories are best place to deliver.