Tories prepare 'Brown rescued the banks but not the real economy' message

Last night ConservativeHome received a briefing on Tory thinking on the current crisis and next steps. The main message that the strategist wanted to communicate was that the Tory leadership was unfazed by recent events. David Cameron's great quality is coolness under fire, we were told. He didn't panic during Brown's 2007 honeymoon and there is no panic now. Only resolution. Team Cameron readily concede that Brown has enjoyed a good few days. They expect the Conservatives' poll lead to drop into single figures in the next month or so. They expect to lose the Conservative lead on economic competence but expect it to be restored by the new year. The Tories are not worried about being largely out of the news. They have decided it's largely impossible to compete for serious airtime with Government at this time. They note that... [read full story]