Monday, May 10, 2010

Keep Calm and Carry On

My friend Keith Simpson, who always likes to dabble in a bit of historical metaphor, rings to remind me that it was seventy years ago today that Winston Churchill formed his wartime coalition.

I'm sure Cameron, Clegg and their teams will be shedding blood, sweat and tears to emulate Churchill's achievement.

As Churchill might say, "KBO". Keep buggering on!

24 comments:

Tom said...

With that phrase, Churchill achieved more for gay rights than any Equalities bill could hope for...

Newmania said...

Winston Churchill was adored by his staff and was scrupulously polite to everyone not big enough to take it ,no matter what the circumstances, and they were , shall we say , trying .
Also , whilst descisive ultimately , he was well able to work with a team and respect the views of others .


Let us hope that Cameron and Clegg show some of these qualties , they have been soemwhat lacking lately. I have started to hope that perhaps the best of both Parties may give us another government to be proud of

Is it possible ?

Robert said...

In our electoral system only losers form coalitions.

When are we going to have Iain Dale's post mortem on this election?

He has never been this slow at coming forward on other topics. Why the reticence?

skynine said...

I really cannot see why the Conservative party should be negotiating on English matters where the same issue in Scotland was devolved to the Scottish Assembly.

They have an overwhelming mandate from the English voters to implement their policies. Any agreement with the LibDems should be resticted to non devolved issues.

Bill Quango MP said...

Its also the anniversary of the German invasion of France.

Moriarty said...

The BBC never gives up does it? Their correspondent Ian Watson has just claimed that he has been told by Lib Dem sources that IF the Labour Party wants serious talks with them then Brown has to go. From this it announces the following headline "Serious talks between Lib Dems and Labour if Brown steps down".

But they have confused a necessary condition with a sufficient one. I suspect that the confusion is deliberate.

Ralph Hancock said...

'Keep calm and carry on' was printed on posters that were to be issued only if the enemy invaded and all was lost.

golden_balls said...

to compare this deal with churchill's achievement is ridiculous even for you.

After this process were still going to have an unelected PM so not much has changed has it iain ?

Anonymous said...

Norman Lamb was bleating in Nolan's show last night that the two challnges facing the country that needs immediate attenion are: 1. Economy 2. Political System.. Every one knows about economy, but Political System-it is Libdems priority and as Widdecombe said, Libdems want to puch way high about what their 57 votes dictate, and they came in third losing seats. If they take Brown's offer and b****r off from the current talks holding out for best overtureds from the defeated Labour, the referendum bill in the Commons will surely be defeated as many Labour MPs are opposed to this PR-those particularly from Scotland holding 41 seats when Tories and Libdem will increase their seats there under PR for Westminster. The referendum bill is dead in the water in any case. The reasons that Liberals and Libdems are unable to reach 100 seats mark is not the Voter/votes ratio which can be fixed through boundary redraw but the lack of their core voters as Liberalism and SDPs are concepts which are not distinct for them but runs through Labour and Tories. Liberals in Germany were decimated at the Federal level for a long time, trodden by the Greens and they could gain some seats at the Federal level only recently. This is the problem and not PR gerrymandering to increase their share of the seats.

Unknown said...

Just watched you on BBC News. Whilst you may laugh increduosly at Charlie Whelan's comments, he is absolutely right. To keep in with the WW2 metaphors - the Tories thought they would be in Downing Street by mid-morning May 7th. I seem to remember Hitler making a similar comment about London - and then the Battle of Britain happened. Never so much owed by so many to so few. Fast forward to Labour Party members giving their all when up against a hostile media and mega financial and human resources enjoyed by their Tory opponents. The Tories have been stopped in their tracks......and I for one am proud of the campaign that my party fought and certainly not mortified by the outcome. I was not as active during this campaign as I have been in the past, but I am well and truly galvanising myself for the next one when it comes. And that is exactly the impact it is having on other less active members like myself - and that's before we get all those disaffected LD supported/voters.

Rush-is-Right said...

Iain, I hope you saw Nile Gardiner's blog in the Telegraph today. link.

I think he is right.... it is hard to identify any policy area where the Conservatives and the Libdims might agree. We can all agree that Brown has to go. But once he is gone, where is the glue that will hold such a dodgy marriage together?

Grand_Inquisitor said...

When will all the parties wake-up to the point that NONE of them got a resounding vote of confidence from the electorate - not the SNP, PC, Lib-Dems and definitely not Labour. Certainly the Tories did best and rightly are having a good go at forming an Administration; but 1922 committee take note, the electorate did not give you a green light for those cuts you have been salivating over, rather an amber light.

The idea that the Tories should deliberately avoid a coalition and let the economy go to hell in a handcart just to revisit the later 70s and hence by implication, the rise of a "new Thatcher" - a point of view that Tebbit espouses - will win them no favours in a future election.

So many Brownie points to Cameron and Clegg for at least trying to make a go of it.

BTW if the coalition fails then we would have ample evidence that PR is not a panacea for our problems - so Clegg be aware!

Watching Jack Dromey on the Box yesterday was rather like seeing dinosaurs from the 70's being resuscitated.

Paddy Briggs said...

"Emulate Churchill's achievement"

You mean a National Government with Labour and Liberal cabinet ministers? Good idea!

Curmy said...

I heard a Scotsman on Nolan last night saying he refused to be ruled by the English Tories.

Well England's been ruled by Scottish Nu Labour for the last 13 years !

Moriarty said...

The Peter Hitchens View:

"Now that Mr Cameron has comprehensively lost this election by getting two million votes more than his nearest rival it is time to take stock of what went wrong in the course of a campaign that saw him gain 50 seats more than Labour. Frankly, Mr Cameron has only himself to blame for a strategy that has taken him from obscurity in 2005 to Downing St in 2010. The electoral facts speak for themselves: if Mr Cameron had stuck to the core Thatcherite principles that are so popular in Scotland, he could have added as much as 100 seats to his final tally in that part of Her Majesty's United Kingdom. Instead of which he chose to comport himself in a manner not in keeeping with a putative First Lord of the Treasury: on at least three occasions he neglected to wear a tie; not once did I see him in brogues. I have been arguing in this column for three hundred years now that in order for a party to realistically have a chance of high office it is essential that they remain 98 percentage points ahead in the polls for a minimum of a decade. It is now my confident prediction that the Conservative Party will rent itself asunder and remain in power for a decade. As my colleague, the estemmed Simon Heffer so presciently put it...."

Anonymous said...

I agree with Newmania about Churchill. Let's not forget that Margaret Thatcher (and also Jim Callaghan) were scrupulously polite and considerate to anyone not big enough to take it, but trying their best.

Watcher said...

Not sure what happened to my first attempt to post this, but let's not forget that Churchill was probably the most formidable politician to serve in both Liberal and Tory cabinets in major offices of state.

Might be a good omen...

Unknown said...

While I have not much time for the weirdy liberals - at this time of financial crisis I think the we Conservatives have to hold our noses and have to form a coalition with Liberals. Make it condition that they have to sign up for say 3 years and that electoral reform will be granted if they the Liberals accept that the West Lothian question be answered at the same time. Does Labour seriously expect the English to accept Welsh, Northern Irish and Scottish MP's voting on purely English matters so that a Lib/Lab coalition could govern? The Liberals know this is their one chance to shine and if this coalition works well could in the long term mean replacing Labour as the main alternative to the Conservatives.

Anonymous said...

@suecolley58. Your party lost seats and did not win anything. Toires won 100+ seats. Ridiculous to claim that Tories were stopped on their tracks. Then You will say Tories should have won by landslide which says more about Brown and Labour. Results in Greater London, Manchester and Birmingham etc.. shows the dirty and unpatriotic act of Labour flooding this countrt with non-EU immigrants and keeping them and the white working class permamnaently in benefits. If there is anyone who stopped Tory Landslide it is BENEFITS BRIGADE.

Tim Roll-Pickering said...

Perhaps more pertinantly, May 10 1940 saw the leaders of one party take a coalition proposal to their national executive...

Rush-is-Right said...

Norman, absolutely right. Look at this.

I was born in Hall Green and lived there until I went to university. It was a respectable suburban constituency, returning a Conservative MP every time.

The most recent elections showed the Conservative coming in fourth behind Labour, Respect and the Liberals.

The reason for this is that the place now includes wards that have been packed with foreign trash.

Unknown said...

Norman, whoever you are, you are obviously used to blogging. I am not, the blog on this site is only my second. But, it is proving to be a most useful exercise - and I thank you.......for reminding me of exactly why I am a member of the Labour Party..... to distance myself from the bilious rhetoric that you espouse. At the end of the day I am merely dealing in fact.....the Tories were not in Downing Street by lunchtime May 7th. Their campaign was not good when measured against what they had at their disposal - and Ian Dale has alluded to this in a latter post. I suspect we will know one way or the other whether they will be in Downing Street by close of play today - and who knows, you and I might share the odd banter again regarding the length of their tenure. Meanwhile do watch your blood pressure as you type in caps - it really is not good for you to engage in electronic shouting.

Jimmy said...

Wasn't he one of those unelected Prime Ministers you keep complaining about?

Houdini said...

I'm sure Cameron, Clegg and their teams will be shedding blood, sweat and tears to emulate Churchill's achievement.

No, Clegg, Cameron and their teams will be collecting their massive salaries and expenses, and getting free food and drink while they try and carve a deal to get bigger salaries and expenses and wield power.

The men fighting and dying in Afghanistan, and who couldn't give a toss who is in power as long as they get what they need, are the ones shedding blood sweat and tears, along with the families of those who died.

Let's not make the grubby deals of the present political classes any more that what they are, especially seeing as some who have fought and suffered may be reading this.