Dave was doing OK at PMQs but he raised Unite just too many times
How many people know who Len McCluskey actually is?
The most interesting feature of PMQs today was actually the new line of attack from EdM on free schools. Why are the government funding new schools in areas where there are surplus places when at the same time when there are parts of the country with desperate shortages?
This got buried under the barrage from Cameron on UNITE and the Falkirk selection. It got a good response initially but then Dave kept on repeating it.
The problem here, I’d argue, is that UNITE boss, Len McClskey is not really known by the general public and few would have been aware what the PM was getting so aerated about.
- The free school point is going to get raised time and time again especially as we get closer to the new school year in September. Money being pumped into areas where extra places are not needed has got a lot of potency and Dave/Gove need a better answer.
Latest polling on the concept of free schools suggests that the CON message is not getting across. YouGov found that support for them has fallen to 29% with fewer than one in two CON voters giving them their backing.
Opposition to them, as I’ve noted before, is an issue that resonates very well with 2010 LD voters – the ones that Labour hopes to retain at GE2015.
Mike Smithson
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