Stop talking like an accountant

There has been one phrase that the No10 spinners have been trying to sprinkle into the narrative. To quote David Cameron:

“People want to know that we’re not just a bunch of accountants trying to turn around the British economy…”

If this is what people want then Government representatives need to stop sounding like accountants. The public knows that the Coalition wants to cut the deficit because senior ministers often talk about nothing else.

As I watched the Coalition’s relaunch on yesterday’s 10’o’clock news all I herd was the continuing need for financial pain. “There are economic difficulties in the Eurozone”. “We are going to push ahead with plans to reduce the deficit”.

We get it. If for the next year no Government official every mentions debt we would all still know that Cameron and Clegg believe it is important to cut the deficit. Clegg may not be far wrong when he says that Francois Hollande’s economic programme is not radically different from the Coalitions. The difference is that British people believe the Prime Minister and his Deputy prioritise deficit reduction while French voters believe Hollande values growth first.

In 2010 there was much rhetoric around cutting the deficit, but this was balanced by focus on the Big Society, nudge theory and the Happiness Index. Now all that we seem to get is some vague commitment to concentrate on implementation. But implementation of what? Saying that you are focused on “delivery” is meaningless unless you talk about what is being delivered and who it will benefit.

No more excuse, lets talk about the details of growth, growth, growth.

Related posts:

1. Are we just talking to ourselves?
2. Why we should – must – keep talking about the Big Society
3. How can Cameron stop hackgate contagion?
4. This dumbling down of the BBC must stop
5. Conservatives will stop the secrets