An unapologetic Cameron is in pursuit of his funnyman status…
An extract from an article by Sam Delaney.
I have had such a problem with Cameron from the start because of this kind of attitude he has. He is horribly suave when it comes to PR, and even witty at times.
It’s just not natural.
“Last Thursday evening, amid the throng camping out overnight for the royal wedding, David Cameron sauntered down the Mall and did what he does best. He pretended to be prime minister. Just as he must have done as a child to his own reflection in the bathroom mirror, he addressed the crowds with a dead relaxed, “Hey, don’t freak out, I’m just a pretty normal, although obviously massively powerful, guy” assurance…
…It was classic Cameron. The kind of bloke who turns up for a photo opportunity with some builders at a greasy spoon and laconically orders a salad Niçoise. Just like his allusions to a dated car insurance ad a few days previously, it was yet more evidence that there is one thing he craves out of his premiership more than any other: to be regarded as the Chilled Out Entertainer of British politics….
…When he told Angela Eagle to “calm down, dear” he broke the single biggest rule of public discourse: if you’re in a suit and occupying a position of authority, never ever make a pop- cultural allusion to impress your audience. It doesn’t matter if you’re a prime minister, a geography teacher, a vicar or even John Humphrys on Mastermind trying to have a relaxed exchange with a contestant prior to the general knowledge round, it just never works. You don’t say “calm down, dear” for the same reasons you don’t say “not” at the end of a statement you don’t actually believe in. It’s silly and patronising and, anyway, even the most witless bores in society have long since moved on to grinningly saying “simples” in a daft foreign accent at the end of their sentences…
…He’ll doubtless already have planned an extra bank holiday for 2012, codenamed: “National Fun Day”. And if any more of his policies blow up in his face, the soundbite will already be written: ‘All right everyone, I effed up. Now, who’s up for some X Box?’”
