It seems to be all doom and gloom from the Conservatives this week.
First, the Shadow Home Secretary compares Britain’s urban streets to the scenes of hopelessness seen on The Wire, the American drama.
Now, Theresa May, the Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, has delivered a passionate speech about the culture of worklessness which has become entrenched in some communities.
She paints a picture of children growing up with no hope for the future, stuck in a world of petty crime and drug addiction.
In the sense that the true number of people out of work is higher than official unemployment figures suggest, she is right.
Ms May is also correct to warn that unemployment can become a vicious circle, as youngsters go through their school years assuming that they, like their parents, will depend on benefits throughout their adult life.
But something was missing from her speech. David Cameron got it right once, despite the flowery language, when he exhorted his party to “let sunshine win the day”.
What he meant is that it’s not enough in opposition to oppose. In order to win an election, Conservatives need to convince the public that they can make things better.
They need to talk not only about what’s wrong with society but about what’s right, and to demonstrate that they are optimistic about Britain’s future.
What we have seen this week is a Conservative Party which knows how to oppose the Government quite effectively. But there hasn’t been much to convince us that they would do a better job, or even that they know what a better tomorrow would look like.
There’s little doubt that David Cameron does have a vision for Britain. But perhaps he should remind his colleagues that the Conservatives aren’t just the opposition, at the moment – they aspire to be a government in waiting, and need to sound like one.
