P is for 'Progressive'?

Speaking as in Woodstock today David Cameron has launched the Tories election campaign. He said:

"The next general election is no more than 153 days away and I don't think it can come soon enough.

"Let's make this the year for change - the year when the positive defeats the negative.

"We can't go on in these difficult times with a weak Prime Minister and a divided government."

He also said that he would from today and every day until the General Election he would spell out what that means. That is a good idea I'll be waiting each day to see just what Dave D.A.V.E. Dave spells out and reporting back.

Well to be fair he did give us three of those letters today, n, h and s. He said the following:

We are progressive Conservatives.

"Our goal is to create a fairer, safer, greener country where opportunity is more equal.

"It's because we are progressives that we will protect the NHS.

"In its bricks and mortars, care and compassion, it is the embodiment of fairness in our society.

"We recognise its special place in our society so we will not cut the NHS, we will improve it for everyone."

So he is using the P word too progressive. But there are no cuts for the NHS, but hang on, bricks and mortar come top of his list ahead of care and compassion. Isn't Dave meant to be the caring, compassionate Conservative. The main concern that many of us have is that as part of his plans for the NHS certain aspects of it will be sold off. Putting brick and mortar ahead of care and compassion may not speak of the total fairness to society that Dave aludes to later.

Other P's that were used today include public sector pay. He announced he would freeze it for a year. All of it. Even those on the lowest grades. This in the name of fairness?

Those on the lowest grades suffer because the consumer price index is where the bulk of their spending is not the retail price index. The former is still increasing while the former may show deflation. To freeze pay for the lowest paid public servants as the Conservatives want to do is being positive to defeat the negative, indeed it will add to more negative for those people. There will be little 'aspiration' from the lowest paid public servants to be 'supported'.

The Lib Dems on the other hand have promised to freeze pay at the upper ends of the pay scales only and help out those at the lower end by lifted the Tax Allowance to £10,000.

However, Chapter one of the manifesto is promised on Monday, so obviously Sunday is a day of rest in this statement (precised by Woodstock above):

"We are starting our campaign to win the general election today and we will be spelling out exactly what that will mean every day from now until polling day."

See Also: Kasch Wilder isn't impressed saying it lacks radical change we need. Tory Blogger Byrne Tofferings even said in his predictions yesterday "Cameron to back-track on certain planks of Tory policy. I would expect Cameron to be very middle-of-the-road in his first term. I do not expect any major changes."