What's happening to the Conservatives?

Nothing good, is my usual rule of thumb. Glenn Reynolds seems to have worked out what has become the fate of the Conservatives in Britain in his analysis of the Republican/Democrat battles in the US:

'It does seem to me that Karl Rove wants to do to the Democrats what Tony Blair's Labour has done to the Tories. And it also seems to me that the Democrats are helping Rove a lot, just as the Tories helped Blair'

On the other hand though, Richard North has noticed some of those fabled green shoots of recovery- the result, he says, of Michael Howard's hard line on immigration, with its eurosceptic implications- just poking up in the latest YouGov poll. I'm personally a little wary of YouGov, since it is the polling group of choice for the Torygraph. He comments as part of his regular Booker appreciation post:

'The really fascinating thing, though, is that there has been no backlash from the Europhiles in the Tory Party – of the type that plagued Hague. Kenneth Clarke has stayed silent in his lair and none of the other "usual suspects" have uttered a word in public.

The only reaction, in fact, has come not from the Europhiles but from the public – which have heavily endorsed Howard’s stance, and given him his first boost in the polls for a long time.'

Let's hope Howard knows when he's onto a good thing. It's seemed to me as though he mainly enjoys tinkering with his political agenda to score short term points on a register above the hearing of the electorate- but I hope I'm wrong and that Howard is just bracing himself for some bold and decisive public policy actions.

Update: Meanwhile, Eursoc has a fascinating hard-headed look at these issues.