Given my previous lamentations about the state of open source adoption in the UK, it is good to see David Cameron, leader of the opposition Conservative party talking up the potential for open source adoption in the UK. (You can also watch and listen to the speech here).

The Conservatives have some form here. In March 2007 shadow chancellor George Osborne promised to “create a level playing field for open source software in the UK” if the Conservatives get themselves elected into government.

(When I previously invited the Conservative party to expand on George Osborne’s speech, I received no response, although that could say more about me than it does about the Conservative Party).

Now Osborne’s boss has taken up the theme. “And we will create a level playing field for open source software in IT procurement and open up the procurement system to small and innovative companies,” he said in a speech at the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA).

The rise of open source up the political agenda is to be applauded, but I have my doubts about whether the Conservative party really “gets it” when it comes to open source software.

Witness how quickly Cameron’s speech lurches from open source software to open information, to open standards, to spending transparency, to empowering the citizen, to crime statistics, to government IT contracts, and back to open source software - all in the space of a few minutes - before moving on to social policy and regulation.

A focus on the bigger picture, or a reflection of woolly thinking?

In comparison, while the Green Party has its own agenda, it has also demonstrated a good understanding of the potential benefits of free and open source software. The Liberal Democrat MP, John Pugh, has also shown himself to have a solid understanding of technology in general, and open source in particular.

As for David Cameron, on his own blog he explains: “We’ll champion open source software, not big clunking mainframe solutions. No more NHS computers, much more open platform projects that can be broken down into their component parts”, which I’m pretty sure doesn’t make any sense whichever way you spin it.

UPDATE - The Register notes that Tom Watson, Labour MP and Cabinet Office minister for transformational government, laid claim to pro-open source policies in March and recently noted that the Conservative party had accused him of plundering ideas from the Conservatives. - UPDATE