Meet the minister for selling the unsellable
Fraser Nelson warms to Jim Murphy, the Minister for Europe, who is steering the Lisbon Treaty through parliament — and now promises that he would help Blair become EU President
Those whom the gods wish to destroy they first tip for stardom. Throughout his twenties, Jim Murphy suffered this affliction. Before Tony Blair led the Labour party he was starting a Blairite revolution in the National Union of Students. His slogan, ‘realism, not revolution’, made a cover story in the Sunday Times magazine. No list of young talent in the mid-1990s was complete without him. Yet only now, 11 years after his election to parliament, has he reappeared on the national radar.
The 40-year-old minister I meet in the vast Foreign Office room is a lot quieter and more bashful than the student firebrand I once saw shouting down far-left activists in Glasgow. As I walk in he jumps out of his seat and makes me a cup of tea, chatting non-stop. He asks about Alex Salmond — why does he get good press? Do I think the Tories still lack hunger? It feels almost antisocial producing my notebook. But if I were him, I’d want to talk about anything but his job: pushing the Lisbon Treaty through parliament.
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EyeSee
February 14th, 2008 1:15pmAnd there you have it. Not concerned with the truth or outcomes, just how Labour are perceived and will they get re-elected. Lies need to be called lies Fraser, not Labour's view or statistics.
John Bickley
February 15th, 2008 1:44pmI think the number of Polish children at his old school sums up Labour's problem. Europe is working for Europe (particularly Eastern Europe) not Britain. Labour has made it easy for UK citizens to stay on benefits (especially in areas where Labour controls the electoral seat). They're engaged in buying votes rather than reforming the benefits system and until they do that more Poles will come over here to do the jobs that Brits could do if they had no choice but to go out to work.
John, Basingstoke
February 20th, 2008 11:39amA Scot born journalist praising a Scot born politician in charge of steering through Parliament the EU bill to deprive true born Englishmen of their hard fought liberties just highlights how the "Scot Cabal" rule and subjugate us south of the border as I see it. From "Brown the brooding,indecisive manic- depressive the unelected PM" to "Gorbals Mick" a travisity of fairness, balance and fiscal rectitude as the Speaker, to Des Browne, Darling, Murphy, Alexander et.al. the faceless Brown dominated Cabinet and all Scots who wield power through select committees. Your revenge for Cullondon and the Act of Unity is now complete. An England unrecognisable from 20 years ago through mass immigration, heavy taxation, abominable public services, funded by an incompetant administration staffed by career politicans with their snouts in the public purse greedily devouring vast expense claims of the most dubious nature including the Speaker the so-call guardian of Parliament for the people. They has squandered billions of our hard earned monies. How much lower can this system fall before a sysmic change takes place to counter the last disasterous 10 years. So much for me warming to this article and Jim Murphy