Weekly Review - Cuts, Strikes and Cameron

This week has seen most of the political attention being focused on the Conservative Party conference. The conference was the last before the general election and presented David Cameron with an opportunity to show that he was ready for the role of Prime Minister.

At the same time Mr Cameron was delivering his speech another problem was appearing for Gordon Brown as the Communication Workers Union announced that its Royal Mail workers had voted to strike, three to one.

In Scotland the Liberal Democrats announced that they would be reviewing their position over the Scottish Governments plans for an independence referendum.

Finally, Aberdeen City Council workers face an anxious wait to find out their future after it was announced that the council was undertaking a 90 day review on 600 job losses.

Cameron Pitches For Top Job

Conservative leader David Cameron announced in his final conference speech before next year’s general election that he is "ready to be tested" if his party wins power. Mr Cameron’s speech came after a week in which many felt the Conservative party were auditioning to the masses for the role of government.

Echoing the remarks made by his Shadow Chancellor George Osborne, Mr Cameron said times would be "tough" but his party would "rebuild responsibility" to "put Britain back on her feet". Mr Cameron followed this theme up by saying if his party won the next election "it is going to be tough" and there would be a "steep climb ahead". But that "the view from the summit will be worth it".

In a speech which was short of concrete policy announcements, unlike Gordon Brown’s speech at the Labour Conference last week, David Cameron concentrated on laying out his own personal attributes for being Prime Minister. He said when it came to dealing with "unpredictable events" it was "your character, your temperament and your judgement ... that really make the difference". In another personal reference, he said the death of his son Ivan had made him ask "do I really want to do this?”

On policy Mr Cameron said his "first and gravest responsibility" would be to British troops in Afghanistan. This was supported by the pledge to "send more soldiers to train more Afghans to deliver the security we need. Then we can bring our troops home". He also announced a "war cabinet", made up of his national security council of ministers and defence chiefs, would sit from the first day of a Conservative government. This tied in with the news the day before that Sir Richard Dannatt, the former head of the armed services, would be offered a role in any future Conservative government.

The wide ranging speech also saw Mr Cameron promise to tackle welfare dependency and anti-social behaviour, boost business, improve the NHS and put a cap on some immigration.

In an unusual step Mr Cameron praised some Labour achievements, including the minimum wage and civil partnerships but said the party believed "for every problem there's a government solution" which had led to a "steady erosion of responsibility".

Mr Cameron added that a Conservative government would take a different approach and roll back “big government” in favour of a “stronger society”

On the subject of the national deficit Mr Cameron said the "longer we wait for a credible plan, the bigger the bill for our children to pay" and asked what was "compassionate" about spending "more on debt interest than on helping the poorest children".

In what could be described as his sound clip moment Mr Cameron said, "If you're frightened, we'll protect you, if you risk your safety to stop a crime, we'll stand by you, if you risk your life to fight for your country, we will honour you."

The feeling after the speech was that Mr Cameron had delivered a polished performance and had succeeded in his aim at reaching, and connecting, with normal people.

So far, the conference seems to have paid off with the Tories reaching 44% in Friday’s YouGov daily opinion poll and Labour falling to 27%. If this was followed through at the general election the Conservatives would have a huge majority of 142 MPs.
 

Will they? Won’t they? Well they will talk about it!

This week saw the Liberal Democrats wobble over the Scottish Government’s plans for a referendum.

The Liberal Democrats have made it clear in the past that they would not support the government’s plans for a referendum but announced this week that they had ordered a review of their position on the subject.

The party will debate the issue behind closed doors during a one-day conference on 30 October.

The move came after leader Tavish Scott previously said there would be no change in the Lib Dems' position. Despite this some members believe the party should support a referendum, giving the public the right to decide on Scotland's future, rather than simply voting down the Referendum Bill at Holyrood. This includes MSP John Farquhar Munro and the party's only Scottish MEP, George Lyon.

A party spokeswoman said: "Tavish always wants to hear what party members on the ground have to say. We think this is the best forum to start marshalling the arguments against independence and to let everyone have their say."

The decision to hold a review has been welcomed by The Scottish Government but has seen the Conservatives and Labour attack Tavish Scott for not being in control of his own party and poor defenders of the Union.
 

Postal Workers To Walk

Royal Mail postal workers have voted to take strike action over job security and working conditions. They voted three to one in favour of action, with 61,623 out of a total of 80,830 workers who voted saying they wanted to strike. But the Royal Mail said 60% of the total number of postal workers working in the UK did not vote to strike.

The company and unions have been unable to resolve differences on how best to modernise the postal service. The Royal Mail "condemned" the plan to strike as "deplorable and irresponsible", saying it would drive away customers and undermine confidence in the postal service.

Paul Tolhurst, operations director at Royal Mail, said he was hopeful of making headway with the company: "We have been talking to the CWU for around the last six months... but based on my experience of those talks last week, we are slowly moving forwards, so I have some optimism,"

And despite the yes vote, Dave Ward, deputy general secretary of the CWU, said he hoped to avoid a strike: "We know that we've got difficult challenges ahead, we're ready to meet those challenges and we want to do that through working with the company, and we want to do that before a national strike becomes a reality," he said.

Following the announcement of the yes vote the government came under strong attack for their failure to act. The Leader of the CWU, Billy Hayes, said ministers had “walked away” from the dispute.

The next day saw wildcat strike action by Royal Mail workers in Bristol, Cardiff, Kilmarnock and London among others.

The decision to strike has been condemned from all sides with businesses that rely on the Royal Mail to deliver their goods claiming that the damage caused could see them being forced out of business.

Aberdeen’s Cash Crisis Worsens

On Thursday Aberdeen Council announced that it was looking to cut 600 jobs. The council has announced the proposals are part of a 90 day consultation needed to plug a £17 million hole in the council’s budget.

Aberdeen City Council leader John Stewart said 600 job losses would be a "worst case scenario" - but he anticipated some jobs would go.

"I think every local authority, not just in Scotland but across the UK, will be looking to reduce their workforces as a result of the current economic climate and the measures taken by the Labour government because of that," he told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland.

He added he hoped part of a 5% saving could be achieved through efficiencies, reducing the need for job losses.

On the impact to services, he said: "There's no guarantee there will be a reduction in service. We are looking at the way we deliver services. Making sure we deliver them as cheaply as possible, as efficiently as possible I think there's always areas where you can look at new ways of delivery. The city council has a good record of making efficiencies."

In this issue

• Weekly Review - Cuts, Strikes and Cameron
• Cameron Pitches For Top Job
• Will they? Won’t they? Well they will talk about it!
• Postal Workers To Walk
• Aberdeen’s Cash Crisis Worsens

About Weber Shandwick

Weber Shandwick Public Affairs is the leading public affairs agency in Scotland with a team of consultants bringing experience from the heart of government, political parties, the Scottish Parliament, Scottish Government and the private sector.

Working closely with our colleagues in London, Belfast, Manchester, Cardiff and Brussels we can support your work whether you need to communicate to politicians or decision makers in the Scottish Parliament, Westminster, devolved Assemblies or Europe
 

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