I am getting reports that Tories defending majorities of fewer than 20,000 have been told to look to their own resources to hold those seats. The party will only send assistance to the rock-solid seats to make sure that they remain Tory. It should be remembered that in 1997, the Labour landslide took in formerly Tory seats with majorities up to about 15,000, so if these reports are accurate, it means that the party is preparing to retreat to its Southern English heartlands and abandon the rest of the country.
The Daily Telegraph has it that Tories fighting to take Northern, Labour seats were told last week to give up and campaign in the South. The paper now claims that across the country, incumbents defending majorities of 7,000 votes or fewer have been urged to thrown in the towel and campaign elsewhere.
The latest scandal to hit the Tories may mean that what I heard about Tory plans is more accurate than the version given by the Telegraph. The scandal involves using insider information to bet on the date of the election and the sums involved come to a pretty derisory £6,000 or so.
I realise that for your average Tory these days, ethics is a county in Southern England where Nigel Farage is a candidate, the girls all wear hoop earings and the guys all end their sentences with "Know what ah mean mah son?" However, what these buffoons did was not just criminal, it was utterly mental as well. All they had to do was go into a bookies and place a cash bet. Instead, they bet online so there is a paper trail leading directly to them. Several, including a serving plod have already had their collars felt and I expect more arrests will be made over the coming days.
Can it get any worse for the Tories? Yes, because they are idiots, and idiots can always make a bad situation worse.
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