DAILY MAIL COMMENT: FOLLOW BORIS AND PUT PAST MISTAKES ASIDE
Like Cincinnatus back from his plough, Boris Johnson hit the campaign trail last night, with electrifying effect.
Still the party's greatest electoral asset, he made an impassioned plea to all disillusioned 2019 Tory voters to return to the fold. If they don't, he warns, the country faces 'Starmergeddon'.
Rishi Sunak may be well behind in the polls, but anyone who thinks a Labour supermajority is a foregone conclusion should consider this.
According to YouGov, if 34,000 voters switch to Conservative in marginal constituencies, Sir Keir Starmer's anticipated 200 majority would be halved. If 132,000 were to do so, he would lose it altogether.
That is less than 0.3 per cent of those registered to vote, showing how vulnerable the Labour lead is. There is precious little love in the country for Sir Keir. Polls show he is neither trusted, nor deemed capable of solving the country's problems.
His current level of support is less than Jeremy Corbyn enjoyed in 2017, yet, if those who voted Tory in 2019 do not wake from their slumbers, Sir Keir is on course for an unprecedented landslide – and five years of almost unbridled power.
Be under no illusion about the economic and cultural damage he and Labour's army of climate cranks, critical race theorists and class warriors could wreak in that time. Take their 'green revolution' as an example.
Having been largely kept on the sidelines during this campaign, Ed Miliband popped up denouncing 'climate delayers' (ie those who want to take a sensible approach to Net Zero to avoid bankrupting Britain).
Most threateningly, he vowed to take the lead on global efforts to tackle climate change. The idea that anyone would regard Mr Miliband as some sort of luminary, or that he could lead us anywhere but to the poor house is laughable. Yet in his Gadarene rush to decarbonise Britain, he can inflict huge damage.
Penalising motorists with excessive fuel duties and emission charges, forcing families to replace their gas boilers with expensive and inefficient heat pumps, higher green levies on energy bills, carpeting the countryside with wind turbines, banning new drilling in the North Sea – the possibilities are endless.
Meanwhile, Reform UK continues to show that it is more a sounding board for angry protest than a serious political alternative.
Another candidate defected to the Tories yesterday, having realised the party is providing cover for bigotry and racism.
The Mail has been an admirer of Nigel Farage, for his plain speaking and every-man rhetoric on migration and other issues of immense public concern. But in blaming the EU for Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, he crossed a line.
Beyond him, the party is a façade, with no structure and no prospect of achieving anything. A vote for Reform is a vote for the Starmer supermajority all Conservatives should be desperate to avoid.
An intriguing survey by Lord Ashcroft Polls suggests more than 20 per cent of those who voted Tory in 2019 haven't made up their minds or won't vote at all. When pressed, three-quarters say they would prefer a Conservative government to Labour.
They could still make that happen, but only if they vote Tory tomorrow. If Boris can put the betrayals and let-downs of the past aside, so can they. They might think voting for anyone else or not voting at all will be punishing the Tories. The truth is, they'll be punishing themselves.
Read more 2024-07-02T23:36:43Z dg43tfdfdgfd