Last night’s Question Time ended on an extraordinary note. The public are more in favour of a hung parliament than the Tories care to admit. But I never expected an audience to heckle and boo Liam Fox when he warned of an indecisive election result triggering a run on sterling.
You can watch it here — the mob turn on Fox around 58 minutes in.
This should be a salutary lesson to Cameron’s team. People seem to like the idea of politicians working together. The worm in the election debate shot up when Clegg spoke about a cross-party co-operation to tackle the deficit. And it took a dive when Cameron warned of the dangers of a hung parliament leaving Brown in power.
Voters are in an iconoclastic mood. Tory strategists seem to think the best antidote is warning of economic calamity should the electorate spurn their wish for a majority. It’s a message that could easily backfire.
Jim Pickard
Kiran Stacey