The social media storm that was David Cameron and #Piggate raises some very important issues which many in the mainstream media outlets seem to ignore. Controlling the narrative through the media, the role of big money, the disgraceful House of Lords, drug policy and the succession of David Cameron.

Controlling the Narrative

David Cameron and George Osborne are disciples of the electoral machine that was Tony Blair. Blair’s control of the media, control of the narrative, control of image, contributed hugely to Blair’s electoral success and following his lead, Cameron and Osborne engineered the unbelievable Conservative win in 2015.

Even after five years in office and imposing harsh, unfair austerity measures on UK’s most vulnerable citizens Cameron’s image remained squeaky clean. Barring the electoral avalanche that occurred in Scotland the 2015 General Election was an incredibly drab affair. This was deliberate. It kept the Conservative’s narrative intact.

Remember David Cameron’s ‘Big Society’? Footage of Cameron cycling to Westminster? Riding huskies in the North Pole? Or even ‘hugging a hoodie’? David Cameron is a PR man and I am sure his premiership will go down as one of the most stage managed in history, but Lord Ashcroft’s book, ‘Call Me Dave’ may well be the moment that wheels of Cameron’s ‘PR Express’ begin to fall off. You only have to google #Piggate to see how viral his indiscretions at university have become and there are plenty more on the way.

Big Money & Deceit

The relationship between Lord Ashcroft and David Cameron is indicative of a wider problem in the British political system… money. Lord Ashcroft has donated somewhere in the region of £8 million to the Conservative Party and was instrumental in its reorganisation and rehabilitation. He became a member of the House of Lords in 2000 in much controversy.

Lord Cranborne described the decision to make Mr Ashcroft a peer as:

“… an affront to the dignity and the standing of the party”

Labour MP Peter Bradley claimed it amounted to:

“… cash for coronets”

Money buys influence and influence buys power. In fifteen years nothing has changed. Political donors continue to receive peerages for their ‘outstanding contribution’ to politics and Cameron is likely to go down in history as appointing record numbers of peers even though there are now over 800 members of the House of Lords. The UK is second to China for the size of its legislature. It is in need of a massive overhaul.

The other major issue is of course when did David Cameron become aware that Lord Ashcroft was a ‘non-dom’ (did not pay UK tax on overseas earnings)? Cameron claims he did not know until 2010 in the build up to the general election. It is alleged by Ashcroft that David Cameron in fact knew in early 2009. This is a huge revelation if true, which would have meant that David Cameron misled the public in the lead up to the general election.

Drug Policy

Lord Ashcroft’s book also exposes the issue of drug policy. The allegations that David Cameron smoked marijuana and attended parties where cocaine was prevalent should not shock anyone. Drugs are prevalent in all 3rd level institutions and you would have to live on the moon to have not been privy to seeing or hearing of people taking drugs.

What Ashcroft exposes is that David Cameron was actually a believer in drug reform noting the UK’s particularly harsh laws on drug use. If anything is shows David Cameron is a hypocrite. Now with the levers of power at his disposal, he fails to tackle to desperate need to change UK law relating to drugs. What it does show it that illegal drug use is tolerable for the wealthy in UK society, but if you are poor, you will face severe repercussions.

The Succession

Lord Ashcroft has burned his bridges with David Cameron. His failure to land this billionaire a ‘substantial job’ is going to haunt him, whilst the slow drip feeding of extracts from his book will continue to undermine him. His image is undoubtedly tarnished and he is going to have to continuously answer questions for misgivings and decisions made in the past. Who knows how explosive further revelations may be? Perhaps even his most ardent supporters might start encouraging him to stand down earlier should further disclosures damage the party.

Perhaps George Osborne is the squeaky clean ‘knight in shining armour’ the Tories will turn to? Maybe not. The source of the #Piggate revelations were made a sitting Conservative MP who was at Oxford with Cameron. That whittles the numbers down to six. Of these six only one of them could possibly have anything to gain from the tarnishing of David Cameron’s reputation and that person may well be in the running for the Conservative leadership himself. I will leave the guessing game to you.

What can be guaranteed is that it is going to be a fascinating few years in UK politics. It will also be fascinating to see how Cameron can overcome the battering his legacy is taking from the #Piggate allegation and many others which are in the pipeline.

Links:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/696476.stm

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3242494/Revenge-PM-s-snub-billionaire-funded-Tories-years-sparked-explosive-political-book-decade.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3243870/The-secrets-Dave-s-Chipping-Snorton-set-Drugs-parties-gilded-world-Cotswold-elite-s-oh-home-with.html

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/sep/21/cameron-faces-fresh-questions-over-knowledge-of-ashcroft-tax-status

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