POLITICS

By acting bravely, Mr Smith may yet become brave

MATTHEW PARRIS

Let me through! I'm a doctor!' This has been the shout missing as Liberal Democrats in Torquay, and now Labour in Brighton, discuss policy.

Oppositions are permitted many errors, I think. They may miss an issue here or there, or get the wrong end of the stick. Their philosophies may be inconsistent, their policies ill-considered, shallow or half baked. Despite all this, Oppositions may prevail, their prospectuses shot through with error.

But they must believe them at the time. More than anything else it is a feeling of knowing what has gone wrong and knowing how to put it right that propels an Opposi- tion forward.

At Brighton and Torquay this year, that confidence has been lacking. Where has been the certitude, the sense of mission? Where has been that impatience the Tories had in 1977/78 — to grab the reins of power and show the world how simple it all was? Which spokesman has really exuded the confidence that says, 'I know how to fix it. Let me try'? Answers are seldom obvi- ous, but any good salesman must start by convincing us that he, at least, believes they are.

Debate after debate has found would-be ministers grinding drearily through the liturgy of anti-Tory invective. From plat- form after platform, speakers have thumbed their noses at John Major and made a rude noise at his Cabinet. On and on it goes, the abuse, the criticism, the complaint, the anger. And all that's fine; all that's as it should be. But it comes to noth- ing unless accompanied by self-belief; and when spokesmen have turned from criticis- ing the Government's policies to promoting their own, the tone has so often been apologetic, evasive, shifty.

The current fad for saying that 'there are no easy answers' is unwise for an Opposi- tion. An Opposition needs to exude a sense that there are indeed easy answers, and here they are! We do not ourselves need to be certain that they are right, but we do need to believe they feel that certainty. For voters to help an Opposition to win, we need to believe they honestly want to. You could be forgiven, returning from Brighton this week, for concluding that nobody liked the Government, but nobody greatly cared to take its place.

But one important battle, at least, was started. Omov — one member, one vote — is now unstoppable.

Aristotle was once asked what, in essence, courage was and how the timid might acquire it. His reply was useful and profound. 'It is through acting bravely,' he said, 'that we become brave.' Just do it! runs the streetwise 90s version of the same thought, borrowed by the adman for the promotion of a contemporary brand of run- ning shoes. At Brighton, and with omov on his mind, John Smith has had need of Aris- totle.

Why add to the reams of media advice already on offer, when the philosopher has said it all? Too much of that advice has been of the calculating, worldly sort: what, in approaching his reforming task, would be smart for Mr Smith? What would dele- gates think right? What will the unions wear? What would colleagues consider realistic? Was this the best way for him to take command of his party or win the next election? Did the arithmetic justify the gamble? Should he have hedged before- hand? Do the voters outside care?

Snivelling tosh, all of it sightless, broken- backed pseudo-realism. In politics, the greatest realism is the moral truth. Seldom do you sight it, for most problems are baf- flingly complex, blacks and whites are rare and there are many shades of grey. But just once in a while an argument is entered upon in which one side is obviously, com- pletely right, the other utterly, irre- deemably wrong. Where this is so, my observation is that in the end, the right side of the argument always wins.

There are moments in a political career when one can thrust aside the pencils and pocket calculators, ignore the whips' sums and daily press summary, and cleave to what is just. Tactics may be needed, but to immerse oneself wholly in tactical reason- ing at such a time risks losing sight of a larger certainty: that, finally, this is a battle which can only go one way. It is not a bur- den when we find, as Mr Smith has this week, a difficult cause which he knows to be' right and believes must prevail. It is almost a luxury. It is an immense privilege.

In making his party answerable to its members and putting it beyond the reach of bribery or blackmail from the big union battalions, Mr Smith was offered just such a privilege. He had, at Brighton, the chance to stake out, as his own, territory from which his party will return as a serious force in British politics, or will not return at all. There was, and is therefore, no dilemma for him, no dilemma of any kind; no 'mine- field', no race, no ring, no contest.

'Clearing in the forest' was a phrase used once by Kenneth Baker. In the political for- est we labour mostly in the thickets and encounter very few clearings. If Ken was ever in one, I never saw him there. But John Smith stood in just such a clearing on Wednesday, as this magazine went to press. He could not, in the end, lose.

My own hunch was that he expected to make better headway than the odds were suggesting. By the time you read this, that may have been proved right or wrong. But seldom can an awkward press deadline have been of less real account, for if not on Wednesday then Thursday; if not Thursday then later; this week, next week, next month. .. next year if he must. He had the security that comes when you find yourself on the side of the inevitable.

Other politicians should envy him such security. If I knew the Ancient Greek for 'Just do it' I'd have the T-shirt printed for him now, as I write this. As you read it, John Smith may be acknowledging the cheers, or licking his wounds. It does not matter, for he cannot, finally, lose. By act- ing bravely, as he has, Mr Smith may yet become brave.