Couldn’t organise a plot in a parliamentary party
James Forsyth 11:35am
Iain Martin has a quite brilliant line in his column today on Charles Clarke and his plotting :
“If this is an attempted coup, it is shaping up to be the most badly organised since Simon Mann looked at Equatorial Guinea on a map of Africa and thought: that looks worth a shot.”
My sense is that Charles Clarke has, oddly, done Gordon Brown a favour. It is now so predictable when he criticises Brown that it infuriates Labourites rather than goading them into action. As Iain argues, Labour’s dithering—one respect in which it does follow its leader—is destroying its chances. The party needs to either get rid of Brown or get behind him for one last push. But sending out the message that they know he’s useless but it is just too hard to get rid of him and anyway there’s no obvious alternative really is the worst of both worlds.
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Comments
Hereford
September 5th, 2008 12:08pmThe reason they are dithering is that most of them are so self serving that they will do literally anything to delay the day they are kicked out of their nice cosy, two house, expenses rich, cushy jobs.
I have said it before, they will grumble and rumble on until the very last hour available, splurging our money, stacking up expense claims and worsening our individual and national financial situation, just to get that few months more of pay before the inevitable happens.
Tom
September 5th, 2008 12:33pmThe dithering of the Labour Party is incredible. What little principles they did have seem to have now been sacrificed to ensure their continued employment for the next year or so.
Compare that with what has happened over the last 72 hours in politics in New South Wales. Labor Premier Iemma and his henchmen Costa and Watkins have all been turfed out largely over privatisation of the electricity supply. Quick and efficient. I don't support the Labor party here in NSW but I do admire the fact that they think they are doing the best for the population rather than for themselves. More here and here if you're interested.
Tiberius
September 5th, 2008 1:37pmIain's piece suggests a certain irony.
If the politics of the Left has resulted in the hollowing out of Western Europe's civilization, how poetic that its vanguard in Britain is hollowing itself out with characteristic laziness, cowardice, and self-flagellation.
I know some of us on here dream of the end of the British Labour Party, but with no figure emerging to rescue it from the dire situation it's in, the dream may not, after all, be emanating from a pipe.
Marian C
September 5th, 2008 8:17pmIts not too 'hard to get rid of him'at all; they don't want to get rid of him, because if they did, then they would all have to get off the gravy train, thats the truth of the matter.
Nicholas
September 5th, 2008 8:18pmI do hope so Tiberius. But there will still be the infestation of activists in the civil service, local government, education and the media.
How to de-toxify those institutions?
Hysteria
September 5th, 2008 9:08pmNicholas - I reckon most of the "workers" will act with self interest (after all - that is the accusation we are making against the MP's - right?).
So in my Utopian world (!), Team DC sells a convincing right of centre story around reduced Government spending, greater pride in community and nation, smaller government, greater (proper) employment and many of the folks will realise where they are better off and act accordingly.
We are never going to convince the ultra-left so let's not even try. But we should be able to convince the majority there is a better way to organise and run our country and get folk on-board.