Peter Preston (London Guardian): Duncan Smith's time will never come

[Jack Rabbit]

From the Guardian of London
Dated Monday August 4

IDS's time will never ever come
If Labour had a strong opposition many things might be different
By Peter Preston

There is a hinge to British political affairs - and, curiously enough, it is called Iain Duncan Smith. We know that governments lose elections rather than oppositions win them: but we do not know whether oppositions led by Duncan Smith have even that negative capacity.
There are, to be sure, a few hardy souls who now believe that anything is possible. The Tories, after all, are in the lead on some late summer polls. Not by much and at the latest nadir of Labour fortunes; but a lead is a lead. How does Tony Blair get himself out of this latest weapons of mass destruction mess? How does Gordon Brown fill the holes in his Budget bucket? See the first shoots of that rare flower called hope sprout as the holidays begin.
The Telegraph fondly remembers a recent question time that Duncan Smith almost won. Lord Rees-Mogg does his kraken wakes bit for this very quiet man. Backbenchers dare to whistle as they pack their bags. Perhaps they have something to whistle about? Perhaps ... but such hope remains in scant supply around the salons where hard men - and women - meet.
Is there the slightest sign, for instance, that the Mail - so busy tugging at the pillars of Labour's temple - sees a chance for the new, bald Samson? Is Paul Dacre ready to put his own reputation on the IDS line? And if the Mail is ambivalent, what are we to make of Rupert Murdoch, still finding time to play Blair against Brown but not prepared to toss more than a bone of sympathy the Tories' way?
No: the toughies' verdict remains profoundly cynical. OK, the polls are stirring. Labour is losing a few to the Lib Dems and the Lib Dems are losing a few to the Conservatives. What goes around comes around. But victory a couple of years down the road? Forget it. The policy front may be gaining a few extra bastions: 80mph speed limits on motorways; more roads in general; fewer university places for the kids of Labour's natural supporters; lower taxes when and where possible; less targeting and more health. The leader may even have managed a full dress speech on his European non-vision. But still, forget it.

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Several of our British DUers have commented on this. Thankfully_in_Britain in particular laments that Blair's dominance has been bad for British democracy.