Andrew Grice: The Week In Politics

Why Tories and Labour are into 'political cross-dressing'

Published: 15 July 2006

Are Labour and the Tories changing places? It feels like it after a week in which Labour has looked like the millionaires' party and is engulfed by allegations of financial sleaze with potentially more devastating consequences than the tide of "Tory sleaze" which helped sweep John Major out of office in 1997.

On policy, the big two parties are increasingly indulging in what one Blair aide called "cross-dressing". David Cameron urges us to "love a hoodie", donning the 1992 garb of Tony Blair, who appears to have long forgotten one half of his "tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime" mantra. When John Reid unveils his Home Office fightback plan next week, it is a fair bet that he will not be urging us to love anyone.

Article Length: 831 words (approx.)