The draft Queen's speech which is apparently handwritten on vellum and takes three days to dry - it is so hard to find a monk to make the changes in a hurry nowadays; no wonder HVIII dissolved their monasteries - was to be revised. The PM and his Deputy headed off to a tractor factory in Essex to show that they were in touch with people.
The choice of Essex was obviously a careful one. It was not too far from London and south of the bad lands which start somewhere around Watford. As one commentator remarked, 'it was a triumph to find a British factory still making something; and within reach of London too.' The tractors were blue and yellow - the source of a very laboured and badly delivered 'joke' by the DPM which fell on dead ears. The speech was not aimed at the bemused tractor drivers but at the media. It all smacked of something from the television series 2012: the result of some over-enthusiastic young spinner/policy wonk in No 10 who should not have been allowed out.
Political sketchwriter Simon Carr was his usual pithy self. 'It did not matter what they said, no one was listening', he said. 'They came to Essex not only to show they got it but to show they really, really got it, with a cherry on top. They talked of things of which they were hugely proud such as life chances, and focus, and delivery, and monetary policy, and governing for the whole country. Everything we [journalists] had heard before we did not want to hear again.
'Asked about the price of fuel one of them said, "The world diversifying its fuels supplies will have a good effect for people using tractors". Surprisingly this reply does not seem to have got a round of applause.
'Ed M had said, no one has any respect for politicians any more. This may be true but judging from Basildon I'd be surprise if anyone is listening.'
So that is being in touch with people. It gives you such confidence.
