So Ed Miliband brought up the Flashman thing at Prime Minister’s Questions today. How rum. Now I think it would be sensible for the Prime Minister to be polite to his opponents. There’s no need to belittle Mr Miliband when he does such a good job of doing so himself.
If Labour think attacking Cameron’s privileged background is a winning tactic then good luck to them. I rather suspect the public have already priced that in to their view of Cameron (and George Osborne) and so this ploy cannot do much more than entertain Labour’s backbenchers.
I suppose Labour are thinking of the Harry Flashman* of Tom Brown’s Schooldays.That Flashman was a bully eventually expelled from Rugby (for drunkeness). But that Flashman has been eclipsed by the Flashy of George MacDonald Fraser’s meticulous catalogue of Victorian adventures, presented to posterity as the Papers of Harry Paget Flashman.
Granted, Flashman’s winning description of himself as “a scoundrel, a liar, a cheat, a thief, a coward—and oh yes, a toady” is not without merit.
Britain’s best politics newsletters
You get two free articles each week when you sign up to The Spectator’s emails.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in