Tories were on BBC radio yesterday boasting about the ‘stealth-tactics’ they’re using for the General Election – that by targeting carefully-identified sets of people out of the public eye, they could keep their campaign below the radar, out of sight of their opponents.
That may work better in theory than in practice, thanks to diligent people who are subjecting themselves to Tory drivel for the sake of the Labour Party and the country by joining the Conservatives’ mailing list.
One of them sent the SKWAWKBOX Theresa May’s latest email – and it exposes a weak Tory leader still desperately trying to appear to be meeting people – without actually meeting them.
May has not, as far as the SKWAWKBOX has been able to identify, publicised this event online – only people on her mailing list have received notification and it’s only one hour long. So this is yet another stage-managed, tightly-controlled event to which only ‘the faithful’ are allowed access. Here’s the message they’ve received:
In case the image is hard to read on your device, the key part says:
And this coming Tuesday (16th May), I will be taking part in a telephone town hall event.This telephone town hall will give you, and thousands of others like you, an opportunity to voice your opinions and ask questions directly to me in an open and simple way.Whether it’s Brexit, security or the economy, this is your chance to ask me about the issues that matter most to you and your family.The call will take place between 19:00 and 20:00 on Tuesday, and I will be taking as many calls as possible.
Based on Radio 4’s programme on Sunday, May’s campaign advisors also intend to use such events as a way of fine-tuning their appeals to the bigoted, small-minded and ill-informed. So they only want to hear from their preferred target audience.
The purpose of this event is not to expose Theresa May to the actual wider public. God no. The opposite, in fact. And of course, while they might afterward try to use it to claim she wasn’t hiding from the general public, keeping her out of any situation that might be tricky and expose her huge inadequacies is exactly what they want.
And of course, because it’s a telephone event, the call-handlers will be making sure nothing unduly challenging or risky gets through. You even have to register to be able to call in – or even to listen.
The SKWAWKBOX would, of course, never suggest that Labour-supporters should do anything to hamper the Tories’ purposes in holding this insulated event by – for example – registering for it and then tying up the phone lines with lots of calls between 7pm and 8pm on Tuesday 16th May.
We would also not suggest that anyone pretend to be a Tory supporter to the call-vetters and we absolutely would not ask that anyone record the event audio and send it to this blog.
No, those would be far too ungallant a step to take against a Tory party that has resolutely taken the high road in all its campaigning and which would never – for example – plant Tory councillors in the audience of Question Time to try to control the show’s tone and narrative.
But do spread the word so the uninvited General Public are aware of what the Tory leader and her handlers are up to and can make their own minds up what to do about it – and how to vote.
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I couldn’t open the attachment, but based on what you cited, did you notice the invite doesn’t mention the word ‘Conservative’, very consistent with their research showing that the Conservative brand is toxic?
Discussing this with a friend, thinking hypothetically that if either of us were actually selected to participate, what questions we should definitely not ask? Any suggestions?
A few suggestions:
– why are all your appearances so stage-managed
– why won’t you debate Corbyn
– why are you recycling old Labour manifesto promises
– how can we trust you to keep a single promise when we’re having an election because you broke one?
– can we have a straight answer why nurses are using Foodbanks?
– are you being investigated by Propriety and Ethics?
Some very good questions. I especially wouldn’t ask the last one, as it would indeed impinge in Mr Mays sudden popularity, running at No5 in the weekly reporting of top political figures (?) since appearing on the One Show. It might upset a lot of people knowing that his company made £billions (every penny started as a drop of sweat on a poor persons brow) from stock market movements affected by his wife’s political manoeuvres. Couldn’t have the St Theresa accused of such base matters. Oh no.
Just signed up but loke Florence I’ like to know what questions not to ask if I get the opportunity 🙂
A few suggestions:
– why are all your appearances so stage-managed
– why won’t you debate Corbyn
– why are you recycling old Labour manifesto promises
– how can we trust you to keep a single promise when we’re having an election because you broke one?
– can we have a straight answer why nurses are using Foodbanks?
– are you being investigated by Propriety and Ethics?
If it was me, I certainly wouldn’t ask:
“How can we trust the Conservatives with National Security in light of the NHS/WannaCry attack? Do you accept that the failure to update NHS computer systems has left vital British infrastructure vulnerable to attack?”
Given that one of their strongest arguments (to potential floating/Tory voters) regards Corbyn’s (alleged) ‘weakness’ on National Security, raising questions about her weaknesses in this regard would be especially churlish and rude. Only a complete scoundrel would even contemplate such a thing.