Do we really worry the other parties that much? 20 June 2007
Posted by Anders Hanson in Conservatives, Lib Dems, Ming Campbell, Politics.Tags: Labour Party
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First it was Cameron proposing a joint Lib Dem/Tory mayoral candidate in London.
Now it is Brown proposing that Lib Dems join his first Labour cabinet.
I can’t decide whether it is because they believe that the Lib Dems have such excellent potential mayors and ministers, or whether it is because they see as such a threat that they feel the need to stifle us by absorbing us in to some unholy alliance.
Either way, if the other parties feel the need to give us so much attention it doesn’t really give much credence to those anti-Liberal Democrat commentators who are so ready to believe that the Lib Dems are doomed under Ming Campbell’s leadership.
GUARDIAN: Revealed: Secret talks over Lib Dems in Brown cabinet
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Why did Brown bother asking in advance? He should just have announced his full list of Ministers once he got in, including both a Lib Dem and a Tory in each department, and said that people who didn’t want the job were free to resign.
Those approached need to ask themselves what it is about them that Brown found so attractive politically. The Lib Dems also need to ask this about each of them, as well as what the point of their own party is if it is going to pass up offers of Ministerial office, even including at Cabinet level. Everyone needs to ask what the reply from Ashdown, never over-troubled by self-doubt, would have been if Brown had offered to make him Foreign Secretary; also, to consider that, just as Sarkozy gave the Foreign Ministry to Kouchner, the only prominent French Socialist to support the Iraq War, so Brown has tried to bring in Ashdown, a pioneering neocon cheerleader from the Yugoslavia days, and who recently surprised no one by coming out as holding the same views on Iraq.
The Tories need to ask themselves why nobody bothered to do try and do a deal with them (although I suspect that that would have been Phase Two, and might yet be Phase One And Only instead). Labour Party members need to ask themselves why not one of their number - MP, Peer, or able to be raised to the Peerage for the purpose - was deemed capable of doing any of the Ministerial jobs in question, including one at Bevan’s NHS. Labour MPs, in particular, need to ask why, at least where these particular positions (and how many more after this?) are concerned, the man whom they gave a clear run for Leader would rather have a Lib Dem Peer than ANY of them.
And we all need to ask ourselves and each other what we are doing to replace this whole sorry lot with proper parties and proper politicians, speaking and acting for us.
David says “The Lib Dems also need to ask this about each of them, as well as what the point of their own party is if it is going to pass up offers of Ministerial office, even including at Cabinet level” however what people need to understand is that the cabinet at least in theory operates on the principle of collective responsibility and so while someone like Paddy may agree with Gordon Brown on Northern Ireland he probably doesn’t support Labour’s policies on issues such as Anti-terrorism (which could still be an issue in NI), Defence funding, Education, the Environment, Health reforms, Local Government or Pensions. Therefore Paddy cannot be a member of the cabinet. If Paddy wants to contribute towards ensuring a permanent peace in NI is achieved then he can do a number of different things which would allow him to work with all political parties but not have to support their policies on everything else.
I had the same experience after a recent fire in Crewe. From an average of around 200 visits each day I had over 1000 for a few days running, most wanting news and photos of a blaze at Aztec Chemicals. Crewe blog has now returned to normal traffic!