In agreement with Portillo

Micheal Portillo’s column in today’s Sunday Times has much that I actually agree with!!

There are three paragraphs in particular though that are worth picking up on.

“Gordon Brown said he relishes taking on Cameron, which gave his opponent more status than he might have intended. But Labour has the difficulty that the Tories have always had with Blair. What is the “narrative”? Is it that Cameron has not really changed? That gets harder to argue as time goes by. Is it that he has changed but will change back? Or perhaps that while he may have changed, his party has not? Tories tried those lines against Blair but their attacks were ineffective.

“After the party conference season we return now to the unfinished business of Blair’s departure. Brown must measure whether he is losing support among the party, media and public. Some Blairites believe, much more firmly than any Tory does, that Brown is unelectable against Cameron. They are cheerfully spreading despondency. They may succeed in undermining Brown but it could backfire. If the chancellor’s support begins to haemorrhage he will have to tip the prime minister out of office before next summer.

“While those struggles continue, Cameron can bide his time. The Labour party supplies the country with both its government and its opposition.”

This may seem as stating the obvious but it is exactly to the point and in my view absolutely spot on with what we will see happening until Blair goes.