Cameron to repent of youthful dabbling
David Cameron returns to core Tory values - Telegraph
David Cameron is preparing to move to core Tory policies on tax, marriage and crime and style himself as an heir to Margaret Thatcher - not Tony Blair.
In a shift that will see him distance himself from green tax proposals, the Tory leader will use next week's crucial conference to try to reinvigorate his leadership before a possible snap election.
In an interview with The Daily Telegraph today, George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, discloses that proposals that proved unpopular with ordinary Tory voters will be scrapped. They include taxing people for parking at supermarkets and for taking more than one short flight a year.
He also makes clear his intention to reform inheritance tax.
Mr Osborne says Gordon Brown is a "fake" and taunts the Labour leader by saying if he does not call an election now he will have "bottled it".
And after weeks of poor polls - the latest put Labour 11 points ahead - and watching the Prime Minister make direct appeals to Tory voters, Mr Osborne has been forced to fight back and stake Mr Cameron's claim for traditional backing.
Mr Brown used an interview with this paper and his conference speech on Monday to try to woo Middle England. Promises by the Government to review policies on crime and drugs have also been seen as an attempt to stake out traditional Tory ground.
By contrast, recent Conservative green proposals were greeted with astonishment.
Cabinet ministers at Labour's conference in Bournemouth this week could not contain their pleasure at Mr Cameron's clumsy attempts to use the multi-millionaire Zac Goldsmith to come up with green policies for "ordinary people". It threatened to be a millstone round the party's neck.
That will be put right next week when many of the plans are ditched....
Is the Boy growing up, putting behind him those embarrassing teenage trendy policies, will he acknowledge the traditional Tories have more appeal than Zac and Gummer? Time will tell but it is a welcome move, even if it is done under pressure from realising his present policies are as welcome as Granny's tongue in a goodnight kiss.