Cameron on Marr

It would be silly to expect fireworks from DC on the eve of the Conservative Conference, so it’s hardly surprising that Marr’s interview felt a bit flat.

On Europe, Cameron stuck resolutely to the line that the Conservatives have been taking for months – that if Lisbon is ratified, different circumstances will necessarily mean that policies on the EU will have to be reconsidered.  For me, though, I fear Cameron didn’t do quite enough to pacify the hardline Eurosceptics who are almost guaranteed to throw numerous spanners in the works this week.  A little clarity – if only a hint – about what Britain’s relationship with the EU would be like under the Conservatives would have been welcome.

Marr’s interview with Gordon Brown attracted controversy thanks to its prying into the PM’s personal health.  Substitute health for wealth this week.  What bearing does David Cameron’s wealth have on his suitability for high office?  Nothing whatever.  The ‘Tory Toffs’ line was given a resounding defeat in the streets of Crewe & Nantwitch last year, so I really don’t know what Marr thought he’d gain by resurrecting it.

I think Cameron was at his strongest on welfare.  This is an issue that really, really does annoy people – and rightly so.  I don’t think anyone has any quarrel with people in genuine need claiming welfare, but not enough is done at the moment to help them back into work.  Less still is being done to deal with the considerable number of people who are content to remain on welfare thanks to the Government’s ridiculous policies that make welfare pay more than work at the lower end of the earning scale – a problem that Fraser Nelson pointed out in an excellent Spectator article some weeks ago.  Labour has built a social underclass of welfare-dependent people; that’s not fair on those caught in the welfare trap, nor is it fair on those of us who have to pay the bill.  I think we can look forward to a week of clear-thinking on this issue – compassion and conservatism linked by a desire to reduce the size of Labour’s welfare army.

All in all, an okay-ish interview, albeit a bit dull compared with last week.  Marr came across as shrill and rude, and for the most part Cameron dealt with that rather well.  Europe, however, is not going to go away just yet.