Shooting itself in the foot

By Jason Moore THE Conservative Party appears to have learnt little when it comes to public relations. On the day when the emphasis was on Prime Minister Tony Blair's much reduced majority, Conservative leader Michael Howard announces that he is stepping down. All of a sudden, the Conservative Party is in crisis and grabbing the headlines and Tony Blair is allowed to reshuffle his cabinet while open warfare breaks out in the opposition who should be riding high because they have taken a substantial number of seats; the phrase shooting itself in the foot springs to mind. If Howard had waited then it would have been Labour grabbing the headlines. Thanks to his bold announcement Tony Blair was given the necessary breathing space to fight another day. Who advises these people? It must be the same people who organised Prince Charles and Camilla's wedding. The Tories weren't even able to celebrate their minor victory, because by 9a.m. on the day after the election they were in crisis again. When will they learn. Labour won comfortably in the last election and really it was never in doubt. A hundred seats is a lot to lose but it depends on the size of your initial majority. The Liberal Democrats did well, but not that well. I suspect that the votes they won were decided before the election campaign started, because their campaign was about as good as the Tories. Blair will survive, because he is a great politician and outside his own party he has no real opposition.