Last night I was sitting in my seat at the end of the interval, and could not help overhear the conversation from the row behind. Couple, man and woman, mid-thirties to mid-forties. It emerged that he was an employee of the Conservative Party, from Tory Central Office. She was a weak Liberal, possibly originally from the South West.
I pricked up my ears at the discussion on policy. His contention is that there are five issues on which to fight the election - the Economy, Education, Health, Immigration, and laura norder. Broadly, I would agree.
It seems that the Tory message is going to be "We want clean hospitals." Can't disagree. But, as far as I can gather that's it. He quoted some statistics on the increase in MRSA deaths since 1997, which may or may not be true, but certainly need to be taken in the context of a) more patients being treated and b)greater awareness of MRSA. (And wasn't it the Tories who introduced the concept of hospitals being cleaned to a price, not to a standard?)
The girlfriend mentioned transport. He said that Labour had scrapped the Tories' roadbuilding plans. She said people - especially in London and the South East - regard public transport as important. His response "We're not interested in public transport. Our voters are not interested in public transport. We'll get rid of bus lanes."
So, that's Tory policy in a nutshell - hospital cleaning by magic wand, and abolition of bus lanes.
Direct from Tory Central Office.
(And too stupid to consider that the person sat in front of you at the ballet might just be a member of the Labour party and a blogger...)
