Any appeal to the electorate that the coalition may once have
had seems to be fading fast. If the decision to put VAT on a hot pasty turns
out to have been the turning point, the Gang of Four who run the Cabinet have
only themselves to blame for not paying enough attention to Plutarch, the great
Greek essayist (ad 46–120), whose ‘Tips on Statecraft’ would have kept them
straight.
Entering public life not for gain but out of honourable
conviction, Plutarch argued, the politician must make it his first task to
understand the character of the citizens with whom he was dealing. So he had to
start by working with the grain of public opinion in order to win a good
reputation and public confidence. Here lifestyle was an important ingredient of
a politician’s appeal: ‘It is not just their words and deeds that will be held
to account by the public, but also their dinners [got that, Mr Cameron?],
affairs, marriage, pleasures and interests.’
That confidence won, said Plutarch, the politician stood
a chance of bringing about the changes he thought necessary, but he must also
bear in mind that it was always the big picture that counted. Here Plutarch
quoted the monarch Jason of Thessaly: ‘Those who wish to do right overall must
be ready to do wrong in unimportant matters.’ No, said Plutarch: that was the
act of a tyrant. Rather, one should say: ‘Win the favour of people by giving
way in small things in order to stand your ground on the big issues.’ If not,
he said, you will get a reputation for unbending, unfeeling intransigence which
accustoms people to opposing you. Show flexibility, he advised, ‘as we do with
errant behaviour in the young, so that we do not lose our authority by
constantly banging on and can be firm on matters where it really counts’.
And so Her Majesty’s government solemnly legislates on
hot and cold pasties. Only politicians with no comprehension of the British
character could possibly consider tinkering with such small, inexpensive,
everyday pleasures. If the Gang of Four wants to lose the people — and the big
arguments — this is the way to do it.
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