ANALYSIS: Theresa May steals Labour’s clothes but the devil will be in the detail
Tory strategists spy an opportunity.
They see Labour travelling ever leftwards under Jeremy Corbyn and believe they can park their tanks on the long-vacated centre ground.
That doesn’t stop them shamelessly stealing the opposition’s clothes of course.
Boris Johnson yesterday implored the Tories not to “ape” Corbyn as he extolled the virtues of traditional Conservative values. Either Team May weren’t watching (unlikely) or they’ve simply decided to ignore him completely.
Because by vowing to end austerity while the deficit stands at roughly £13bn and the national debt travels ever upwards, Theresa May hasn’t so much stolen Labour’s clothes as completely ransacked their house.
And while the PM suggested in her conference speech that any loosening of the purse strings was dependent on the Government agreeing a Brexit deal with the EU, Number 10 sources later said that public spending will go up regardless.
They have, rightly, come to the conclusion that voters are heartily sick of having to pay the price of a financial crash they did not cause 10 years ago.
Labour tapped into that sentiment a year ago and almost won the election.
But, just as Labour would have had to find the money from somewhere had Corbyn become PM, so will Philip Hammond when he comes to draw up next year’s spending review.
With May also confirming that the fuel duty freeze will continue - a policy that comes with a £800m price tag - and the cap on housing borrowing being lifted (another £1bn on the country’s tab) it’s not immediately obvious where all this extra cash is going to come from.
But that debate is for another day. May will simply be happy to have got through what was a well-crafted speech without her voice packing in and the set collapsing.
Strutting on stage to ABBA before delivering the type of robotic dance that would make Peter Crouch jealous was a nice touch of self-deprecation, but it does get more embarrassing they more you watch it.
Her delivery was fine, the inevitable attacks on Corbyn went down well and the digs at Boris Johnson were subtle but effective.
Many came to the Conservative conference expecting to write Theresa May’s political obituary - a hefty number from her own party. But she leaves Birmingham in a stronger position than when she arrived.
After the disaster of 12 months ago, that is as good as she could possibly have hoped for.
PoliticsHome Newsletters
PoliticsHome provides the most comprehensive coverage of UK politics anywhere on the web, offering high quality original reporting and analysis: Subscribe
