A new Conservative party poster appeared to be backfiring last night as media commentators attacked the ad and a new spoof site was set up to parody the campaign
A new Conservative party poster appeared to be backfiring last night with a range of media commentators attacking the ad and a new spoof site set up to parody the campaign.
Trailed on Conservative Home yesterday, a new posted outlining that, “Now Gordon wants £20,000 when you die” will appear at 18 sites nationwide. But writing on the Spectator’s Coffee House blog, Peter Hoskin describes the poster as “disingenuous”:
Andy Burnham this morning denied the death tax claim with the words, “The Guardian story suggests a £20,000 flat levy. I’m not currently considering that as a lead option for reform.” Sure, the Health Secretary has left himself some wiggle room – he could still introduce the levy. But the fact remains that the death tax isn’t current Labour policy. It may never be. And it’s disingenuous to suggest otherwise.
On politics.co.uk, Alex Stevenson writes that Andrew Lansley’s decision to push the death tax line even after Burnham’s statement was “only a flimsy covering over the scare tactics so keenly seized on by the opposition.” On Sky’s Boulton & Co. Miranda Richardson says, “It seems a somewhat wishy-washy basis on which to campaign.”
Clifford Singer, the man behind the viral MyDavidCameron spoof poster site, quickly launched a MyToryTombstone site. An online generator will be in place soon but in the meantime, the graphically skilled can email their posters to dc@mydavidcameron.com.
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37 Responses to “New Tory ad backfires”
Roger
Oh and on the ‘backfiring’ – to be realistic the critical Spectator Coffee House blog you cite will be read by at best hundreds of people almost all of whom are either going to vote Tory or for some loony fascist or racist party anyway.
Maybe a few other of the more principled Tory bloggers might take the same line – in which case you are talking maybe the odd thousand or two of similarly already committed readers – not one of whom will vote against Cameron because of it.
A big poster at 18 well-chosen urban sites will be seen by tens of thousands.
And if our calling them on their lies gets it into the daily papers or the TV news it will be seen by tens of millions.
They are in a can’t really lose situation here.
Alan W
As far as I’m concerned, the government can tax me as much as they like after I’m dead. I won’t mind really.
Anon E Mouse
Roger – The government have denied it. And? They denied they smeared David Kelly’s character and he killed himself because of it. They denied Gordon Brown briefed against Tony Blair until that got rumbled. This government are a bunch of creeps who wouldn’t know the truth if it jumped up and bit them.
Besides which it’s one of the options in their own Green Paper – they may rule out the option but then why put it in?
Andy Burnham has just said they won’t do it on Radio 4 but I lost all confidence in him when he cried about his wife leaving him to the fees office when they queried his expenses.
The Tories are going to win power because of the useless way Labour has governed us under Gordon Brown – to see Cambell nearly weeping on Andrew Marr on Sunday when 600,000 Iraqi’s lie dead from his George Bush supporting war was truly breathtaking.
Finally if Labour put things in a Green Paper don’t be surprised if people reply to it. I can’t stand Cameron – too public schoolboy for me – but I like Gordon Brown even less and I didn’t mention the Spectator Coffee Blog.
Anon E Mouse
Alan W – You’d rather give your money to this government than to any loved ones you have?
Do you care more about Brown and his cronies than say any charities?
You’re not related to an MP by any chance?
Roger
Anon – this is rather like one of those ‘and another thing’ arguments that former girlfriends seemed so fond of deploying when I contradicted whatever it was that set them:
‘OK so maybe you’ve got your glib little answer on the £20,000 but why should I believe you when you killed poor David Kelly and lied about your expenses – and what about those 600,000 dead Iraqis and that you always leave the toilet seat up and the washing machine door open’
If you really want to talk about the options in the Green Paper first look up what ‘Green Paper’ actually means and how its different to a ‘White Paper’.
Secondly read the whole bloody Green Paper and the responses by experts like Lord Lipsey – who is generally one of the government’s most vociferous critics but described it as ‘excellent’ (Hansard 26 November)
When you actually understand what the problems are and that over the next few decades somebody somewhere is going to have to find vast sums of money to endlessly prolong the miserable half-lives of baby boomers like myself then come back and talk to us about it.
And thirdly wise up to the fact that if you want to win an adult argument turning it into a repetitive litany of ‘all the things I really, really, really hate about you…’ never works.