David Cameron: it's time for Tory campaign to let rip in final week
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Version 0 of 1. David Cameron said he remains convinced the Conservatives “will get there” over the final week of the election campaign but added it was time to “throw caution to the winds”. In a Guardian interview at the end of a hectic day of campaigning, the prime minister acknowledged that people are hesitant about voting Conservative because they need to think hard after seven years of struggle in the wake of the recession. But Cameron, who said he has “turned up the dial markedly” in recent days as a “passionate prime minister” hitting the election trail, added: “I think we will get there. But the reason it is taking time is, quite rightly, people want to have a good look and a good think.” Related: David Cameron's dishonest and foolish tax pledge is an insult to voters The prime minister’s confident declaration comes after he tore up the Tories’ cautious campaign book, drawn up by the party’s election director Lynton Crosby, to speak from the heart in recent days to workers assembled on a series of factory floors. In the first three weeks of campaigning the prime minister adopted a cautious tone and stuck rigidly to the Crosby script about the Tories’ “long-term economic plan” and the choice of “competence” under the Tories or “chaos” under all other parties. The substance of the campaign remains the same but the change in tone is unmistakeable. The prime minister says: “I think it is time now to turn up the dial markedly because I see what is at stake, what is at risk and I want to put that across as strongly as I can. “Look, when you are a prime minister you have to measure your words carefully, you have to measure your speeches carefully. But sometimes it is the time to throw caution to the winds, let rip and tell people what you really think.” The prime minister is being careful to show he acknowledges the deep concerns of voters who have only recently seen their wage rises outstrip inflation. Speaking of the hesitation among voters, he said: “It takes time and I think when that happens people want to listen longer, think harder and consider more about what they do next. “Now, I profoundly believe we have got the right answer because the world is looking at Britain and saying ‘you have built some great foundations in these last five years’. And the logical thing when you’ve got great foundations is to build the house on top of them, not to scrap the foundations and go back to the start.” The prime minster believes that voters are facing the most important election in a generation on the economy. But as a fresh poll indicated that the SNP could win all but one of Scotland’s 59 seats he indicates that the election will be of momentous constitutional importance as he defends the Tories’ aggressive warnings of the dangers of a post-election deal between Labour and the SNP. “It would be a very dangerous alliance,” he said. “I am only pointing out here just a simple fact, which is that you would have people having a decisive say over the government of the UK who don’t want it to exist, don’t want it to succeed.” But the prime minister indicates that he acknowledges that pro-union parties will have to work hard to heal divisions. “As a supporter of the UK, political parties in Scotland are going to have to rebuild. What I think long-term needs to happen is political parties in Scotland have got to work harder to represent the people.” Cameron, who said he would have been heartbroken if Scotland had voted to leave the UK in the independence referendum, said he had not foreseen the failure of Labour in Scotland and the success of the SNP. Amid concerns that the continuing political uncertainty in Scotland shows that referendums fail to resolve political dilemmas, the prime minister strongly defended his decision to allow the Scottish and his plans for an EU referendum. “Scotland probably would have held their ‘illegal’ referendum, there would have been appalling legal rows between Scotland and the rest of the UK,” he said of the scenario if he had resisted the SNP’s call for a referendum after winning a majority in the 2011 Holyrood election. “It would have been disastrous.” A failure to hold a referendum on the EU would end up increasing the chances of a British exit. “If you put your head in the sand and just drift on as we are I think you will get closer to Brexit more quickly.” Related: Letter from 90 tech entrepreneurs praises Conservatives' industry support Tories believe that the warnings about a Labour/SNP deal in a hung parliament are playing well on the ground and may win back Tory-inclined voters tempted by Ukip. But the prime minister says he has not lost sight of the important of bread and butter issues summed up on the day of the Tory election manifesto launch when he spoke of championing “a good life”. “A good life does not mean growing your own vegetables, important though that it is to many people,” the prime minister said as he pointed out that he is not seeking to revive the 1970s sitcom The Good Life. “A good life means that sense at the end of the day, when you get into bed and pull the duvet over you, you think this is working for me. Some people say this is very down to earth, it is boring. I don’t think it is.” The prime minister, who has spent a large proportion of the last month visiting Liberal Democrat-held seats, paid tribute to his Lib Dem colleagues on the “quad” – Nick Clegg and Danny Alexander. “I have worked with both of them well. I respect them as politicians. They did the right thing in coming into coalition. We had to make difficult decisions and we have worked well together. I am proud of what the government has achieved. So on that level I do respect and like them.” But he said he is delivering a tough message in Lib Dem constituencies because the Lib Dems have said they are equally open to forming a coalition with Labour as they are with the Tories. “I am afraid it is tough, but it is tough with a purpose.” |