Dead meat? Where's the beef?

The hard-working chaps over at EU Referendum have disliked David Cameron ab initio. This is because they feel that the Tories do not make enough play of the European issue, and are wilfully ignoring its centrality. Reasonable people may disagree as to whether or not the Tories should make the European Union the centre of its policies and debate, but Richard and Helen's admirable focus on this issue has perhaps created a situation where they are almost keener to eviscerate the failings of the Conservative Party than any other.

In this piece they feel that they've got him.

Above all, its shows that the Fraud King cannot be trusted. If his "flagship policy" is a charade – all spin and no substance – what price any of his other policies? In opting for cheap gestures, he has further diminished the standing of politicians, and added to the general contempt which the breed attracts.

The blunder of which Cameron is accused is that, although he himself cycles to Westminster every morning, a car follows him carrying his papers, spare clothes etc. This makes everything he says on environmentalism a 'fraud.' I don't buy it. It's more reminiscent of the Left's gleeful grabbing of headlines with which to beat George Bush than of reasoned reportage.

Even though the Conservatives are currently flat-lining in the polls, Cameron's personal ratings are significantly higher. He has assembled a pretty good shadow cabinet and allowed it to do its job. Above all, the impression he has given is one of forward momentum. A story that his car is driven to Westminster carrying a lead-lined red box is going to sink without a ripple, except among newspapers and blogs that carry a personal animus. If this makes someone a 'Fraud King', then the entry levels for fraudulent monarchy are alarmingly low.