Davey bites back
Peter Hoskin 1:15pm
Open House have afforded Ed Davey a plaform from which to deliver his version of yesterday's events. Unfortunately - yet predictably - he uses it peddle the Lib Dem's ludicrous line on Europe. One passage leapt out at me:
"It’s not unusual for Liberal Democrats to be squeezed out of parliamentary debates by the other parties seeking to maintain their cosy establishment arrangements.
True, but this was different.
First, all the parties fought the last election on referendum pledges, so there is a democratic obligation for a debate. Second, it goes to the heart of the disagreements between the parties over EU reform. Third, we had undertaken an unprecedented amount of preparatory work to secure a debate, but were still denied. So we were cross."
One wonders whether Davey noticed the grand irony in his claim that "there is a democratic obligation for a debate". After all - now that their red-herring referendum has been slapped down - his party are doing all they can to deny the public a promised debate on the Lisbon Treaty (aka the European Constitution). Now that's worth getting "cross" about.
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Comments
salieri
February 27th, 2008 9:04pmThis is reminiscent of a classic Bliar/McBroon technique. When a simple issue is no longer capable of being be fudged, just redefine in extreme terms what the issue is and then stoke up intense but vacuous debate about the new (non-)issue, so that the real one can be studiously evaded. This goes far beyond stupidity. It's the height of cynicism. Should we now allow for 'Cleggies' as well as 'Brownies'?
Old Hack
February 28th, 2008 10:24amWhat's the headcount in the Lib Dem rebellion at the moment? 15? Coffee House readers would like to know!