David Cameron’s decision to ask Sir Bob Geldof to be an advisor to the Conservative Party on the issue of global poverty was an interesting one. It has certainly upset Mr Blair, who has always treated the world of celebrity as his fiefdom, and is a very clever piece of media positioning. However I do fear a major elephant traps wait in the long term.
Sir Bob told the BBC News 24 today that he would speak his mind and, of necessary, oppose the policy that the Tories come out with if he doesn’t agree with it – i.e. if it isn’t his policy. I fear Sir Bob will accept nothing less than his point of view. We may have the tide behind us now, but what if Sir Bob is leading the charge against the new Tory poverty policy in a few years’ time? I wonder what he had to say about Michael Howard’s globalisation policy, launched just a matter of months ago. With most Tories talking about free trade rather than fair trade…
6 comments:
You never cease to amaze, bewilder and totally confuse...
hmmm... 18 months is an awfully long time though. to be honest, it might be a coup but one celebrity does not an election victory make. or at least it really shouldn't!
I agree but there is a good string of publicity to be had here - Sir Bob makes a speech at Tory Spring Conference, Sir Bob meets Dave Cameron et al. My difficulty is, will Sir Bob back the right-of-centre answer to global poverty at the end of it? Interestingly I met with our Deputy Chairman open-brackets-political-close-brackets today and he seemed chuffed that Cameron was out-thinking Blair.
But surely the public see this for what it really is....a really good bit of PR/Media work on behalf of DC and read know further into it...even if it does lead to an actual 'GELDOF APPROVED' policy?
It's time to hear more about a right of centre strategy for tackling poverty. This is on the domestic as well as the international arena. For far too many years the liberal left has acted like they hold the monopoly on "caring".
The "Geldoff coup" has wrong footed Labour and its great to see the Tories actually heading hte news in a positive light. However, we shouldn't be gilding this lily - he could well turn on us in the end. Lets move on and set our own positive agenda.
Agree 100%. I'd put a Tory in charge of the environment and tackling global poverty anyday. Cameron's Conservatives seen to be muscling in on caring!
Post a Comment