On Message
Tuesday, April 26, 2005

The poverty of imagination in trying to galvanise a less-than-enthusiastic Labour vote continues. It's more lazy blogging about lazy campaigning but the Invasion of the Body Snatchers synchronicity is creepy/amusing.

Gordon Brown: "The Liberals are therefore a risk twice over: their own policies would undermine economic stability and if they let in the Tories by the back door, the country could be returned to Tory economic instability."

Ruth Kelly on the Today Programme (RealPlayer required: "...what people have to realise is that if they do move from Labour to the Liberal Democrats then what they really doing is they're giving the Tories a chance to get back in through the back door... There is a clear choice to be made here and if people decide that they don't want to support a Labour Government and that they would prefer to support the Liberal Democrats then what they're really doing in allowing people to walk in - The Conservative Party to walk in through the back door and people could easily wake up on May the 6th and find themselves with a Conservative government... What they do by supporting the Liberal Democrats is they risk a Conservative victory and that is something that everybody who votes Liberal Democrat should be aware of."

Tony Blair: "The Conservative campaign isn't based on a get-in-by-the- front door strategy, it's based on get-in-by-the-back door, with people thinking that they're sending a message but ending up with the opposite result to what they want."

Blair again: "The danger is that they can let Conservatives in by the back door."

Alan Milburn: "The Tories' strategy is to firm up their vote in the hope that Labour voters do not turnout out, so allowing them to win by the back door."

Bonus points to Ruth Kelly there.

I got some more campaign spam from New Labour today, this time sent by Matt Carter, the party's General Secretary. In it he implores:

If you want to stop Michael Howard's campaign of fear, help us to make our campaign as strong as possible in the last few days.

That's Michael Howard's campaign of fear, everybody. If you vote Lib Dem you'll let Michael Howard and his campaign of fear into Number 10 (by the back door).

The Back Door Count stands at: 10.


8 Comments:

On April 26, 2005 5:43 PM, Anonymous Dan Hove said...

lets be honest though Justin - other parties are at it as well. Whilst people may bemoan Labour's
"if you vote Liberal Democrat (in Hove) you get the Conservatives" -the Liberals are saying the same thing elsewhere. In Sutton and Cheam the Lib candidate is saying that Labour cannot win there so to stop the Tory, people should tactically vote Lib Dem and in Brent East they are saying that the Tory cannot win - so to stop Labour, Tories should vote Lib Dem.!! All things to all people!

(http://brentlibdems.org.uk)

Its the dark art of politics - and they are all at it.  


On April 26, 2005 7:49 PM, Blogger Hove Labour said...

Well why don't you get off the mailing list then, rather than acting surprised each time you get another email?

Clearly they're not journalistic gems (in fact, they're crap) but it just seems a bit pathetic to keep putting the boot in.  


On April 26, 2005 8:00 PM, Blogger Scaryduck said...

"Back door": is this going for the gay vote, going for the anti-gay vote, or both?  


On April 26, 2005 10:08 PM, Blogger Snafu said...

The latest Tory strategy is to "play dead" according to Alan Milburn. How that exactly helps them to creeps round to the back door is beyond me.  


On April 26, 2005 10:23 PM, Blogger Justin said...

Pathetic? We're talking about the slickest media machine in the country. Did I hurt widdle New Labour's feelings?

For fuck's sake, Andrew. It was a lazy post on a lazy afternoon as I stated at the top of the post.

You and Hove Labour have done very well putting your side of the argument on this blog - a lot of the time it borders on propaganda and I've never said a word against you personally. And frankly, Celia Barlow's had a smoother ride from me than I feel she deserves as well. Do you know how many hits I've had from people putting her name into Google? Quite a few.

I've even written about the tips you've put my way like the Boles poster in Portslade. Whatever happened to keeping it cordial?

But it's my house, my rules from now on. If you don't like it, go hang around on your own blog. Argue your case, fine. Have a pop at me, fuck off.

Any more of this shite and I'll delete your comments and then say why I've deleted them.  


On April 26, 2005 10:38 PM, Blogger Friendly Fire said...

Just the fact that these guys visit Justin must mean they are worried that the postal vote in Hove hasn't quite tallied.

Your Bar Justin. Tell it as you like it.  


On April 27, 2005 1:29 AM, Blogger mark said...

I love Ruth Kelly's line:
I don't accept that for a minute, actually.

I don't accept for a minute that voting for the Lib Dems will 'let the Tories in by the back door', actually.

I've had enough of being patronised by politicians who are members of weird secret Catholic sects and look and sound like 12-year-old schoolboys.  


On April 27, 2005 1:42 AM, Anonymous Blue2win said...

I thought the back door to number 10 was number 11 (really, otherwise you fall into the garden don't you). So is this a dog whistle about Golden Brown?

Unless of course they mean through the cabinet office. But that is too complicated.

Come to think of it do they have any idea what they are on about?  


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