Each election has its own language. After being away at the beginning, it is taking time for me to pick it up, but here is what some oft-repeated phrases seem to mean:

This is an appalling example of naked opportunism.
What a good idea, I wish we'd thought of it

(Spoken by Mr Blair.)Gordon Brown is the greatest chancellor of the past century.
Alan Milburn was a terrible campaign manager.

It is sickening to see Michael Howard playing the race card.
How many votes do you think I will pick up by saying this?

The NHS is not safe in Tory hands.
The Government increasingly pays for private hospital treatment and that is fine, but if the Conservatives help individuals to go private, they are destroying the fundamental principles of the NHS.

(Spoken by TV reporter.)The trouble with the Conservatives going on about immigration is that they may be perceived as a one-issue party.
At least I hope they will be, as long as I keep on asking about nothing else.

Apropos of which, I liked the comment of Danny Finkelstein on Newsnight earlier this week when he said something along the lines of, "In my experience, when Michael Howard holds a press conference he gets 12 questions on immigration and the thirteenth one is 'why do you keep going on about immigration?'"

Posted by James Bartholomew • Indexed in Politics

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