All hands to the Defence Select Committee this afternoon, for questions about the
nation’s security apparatus. Of course, most onlookers were not remotely interested in the answers. For them, this gathering was convened to see if William Hague might regain his “mojo“.
He didn’t get the chance. This was Letwin Hour. Or Letwin’s Two Hours, to be precise. After a difficult fortnight for the government, the brain behind Cameron’s premiership high-jacked proceedings. In insouciant tones, he explained the manifold complexities of the government’s security policy to the committee. Real terms defence spending is likely to increase after the next spending round and Trident will be replaced; both are a response to perceived threats and Britain’s aspirations abroad. He delved into the dangers of shifting political sands and explored the threat of technological warfare. At length, he ruminated on the interrelation of hard and soft power in the modern world. Somehow he contrived to over-complicate the distinction between the National Security Council, which plans long-term strategy, and COBRA, which manages current operations.
Thus, awkward questions on Libya were avoided. Actually, the questions never arose: such was the effect of Letwin’s dissertation on his method. ‘This is how I’ve done it,’ he might have said if he wasn’t so fond of elaboration.
Throughout, the three junior boys, Hague, Mitchell and Fox, sat nodding as the prefect spoke. Mitchell, the man who is apparently poised to replace Hague, was a muted presence. In fact, after half an hour’s silence, he had to be invited to speak by committee chairman James Arbuthnot. For his part, Hague took one of Letwin’s prompts and reiterated the view that the European Union needs to reassess its relationship with the Middle East. Open the market, he implied, and political change will follow.
Hague was clear without being compelling; but, to be fair, this was a somnolent affair, very somnolent. The most arresting moment was when Fox broke from the script and said that ‘soft power without hard power is like music without instruments.’ A warning, perhaps, against further defence cuts, but not a severe one.
So, the speculators were disappointed and many confided to Twitter that they were on the cusp of narcolepsy. We learnt no more about Hague’s future; but we got a rare glimpse of Oliver Letwin’s usually submerged influence.
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