Call-Me-Dave Is Out Of Step Again...

It seems that not everyone is enchanted with identity politics, now that some have finally realised it isn’t likely to win them more votes than they lose:

Harriet Harman's new equality laws risk alienating middle-class voters and could condemn Labour to defeat at the general election, a Cabinet minister has warned.

John Denham hinted that legislation aimed at closing the social gap could cost the party support in Middle England.

If there’s any left, that is…

The Communities Secretary risked a clash with Miss Harman by dismissing the 'egalitarian' approach to helping the needy that has dominated left-wing thinking since the 1960s.

He argued that Labour's traditional emphasis solely on the poor was 'badly out of step' with the majority of the population.

His comments fuelled speculation that he fears disaffected middle-class voters would desert the party at the ballot box and cost it a fourth term in office.

I think you can write off that fourth term now, no matter what you do. You could probably burn Harman and her coterie at the stake on the Parliament steps and it wouldn’t have much effect.

Of course, if you feel like taking a chance, don’t let me stop you…

His speech to the left-wing Fabian Society will be interpreted as a warning to Miss Harman, Labour's deputy leader, who is pushing the Equality Bill through the Commons.

And a sign of further splits and infighting in an increasingly punch-drunk party…

Mr Denham, one of the Cabinet ministers who has repeatedly warned the Government not to ignore the concerns of the south, said most people were not obsessed by 'disparities of wealth'.

He said: 'There is much greater acceptance where they think that wealth is the outcome of talent or effort rather than luck.

'People do not make judgments about how fair things are by only looking at outcomes. They differentiate between those who are disadvantaged despite the effort that they have made, and those who have not made that effort.'

Indeed.

It’s only the die-hard class warriors that can still be pandered to with sops like hunting bans and Tory-baiting. The vast majority don’t care that much, and are sick of seeing identity politics used to garner favour for a small section of society at the expense of everyone else.

There’s no votes in it anymore…

Meanwhile, Call-Me-Dave hasn’t noticed any sea change in society, and it’s full speed ahead and damn the torpedoes…

David Cameron has issued an extraordinary apology on behalf of the Conservative Party for legislation banning the promotion of homosexuality in schools.

He said the party had 'got it wrong' when it introduced Section 28 in the late 1980s.

Or, to translate ‘Pleeeeaaase vote for me!’

Former party chairman Lord Tebbit said he suspected the apology had been driven by 'focus group findings'.

The gay vote - estimated at 2.65 million people - will be a key political battleground ahead of an election expected next May.

Great! That’s just what we want, more focus-group driven politics.

We didn’t learn our lesson after Blair, did we?

Mr Cameron insisted he was making his apology because the legislation had been 'offensive to gay people'.

'I'm sorry for Section 28. We got it wrong. It was an emotional issue. We have got to move on and we have moved on,' he said.

He insisted that under his leadership the party was embracing gay rights and predicted it would produce Britain's first gay Prime Minister.

I’d like them to produce a PM that brings the public sector under control, sticks two fingers up to Europe and starts dismantling the fakecharity apparatus of off-the-books government and social change. And doesn’t kow-tow to identity politics.

I could care less if they are gay, straight or neuter. It isn’t what I look for in a PM. It won’t buy my vote.

You won’t get my vote, Dave….