The speeches by Gordon Brown, William Hague and Vince Cable in the Commons just now were moving proof that there are times when Westminster can set party politics to one side. Watching it one couldn’t help but reflect on how many of our national leaders’ lives have been touched by tragedy. Brown and Cameron have both suffered the agony of losing a child, Vince Cable’s wife died from cancer.
It is often said that politicians do not know how the rest of the country live. But fate has dictated that Brown, Cameron and Cable have had to endure things that the vast majority of us will never have to.

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