Peter Preston's Guardian article today asks: Where's Ming? To be fair he also has a slightly more muted pop at David Cameron and William Hague, but I'll leave my LibDem blogger friends to comment on that! Preston's article can be read in full HERE, but here's an extract...
"This ought to be the Liberal Democrat leader's finest hour. Viable plans are his business. He's in charge today because he was a dominant foreign affairs spokesman, exuding the gravitas Charlie Kennedy seemed to lack, a fountain of wisdom whenever Newsnight called. So why now, just when he can play to his strengths, are the only Liberal stories anyone thinks worth pursuing a slump to 17% on ICM and murmurings about Charlie leading again?
"They have the beginnings of distinctive policy: a regional approach - including Iran and Syria - that begins to exert real pressure on Hizbullah and, vitally, on Israel, too. Paddy Ashdown talks European dimensions that edge Washington out of much of the action. Kennedy himself wishes he'd been hotter and stronger about Europe, about "the big, difficult issues".
"There are fundamental changes of direction here. Is Ming on board for them? More or less, surely: his speeches and blogs follow much of this tack. But his voice seems weirdly lost in the crowd. It is almost as though, once leader, he must throttle back on what he knows and leave the stage clear for spokesmen like Michael Moore (who are part of the crowd). It is almost as though he has no confidence in his ability to break with official wisdom, as Kennedy did over Iraq, and sell it with the passion it needs.
"Opportunity knocks. Three simultaneous wars have become linked by a single philosophy which, to be fair, the PM we still have addresses doggedly as best he can. But the policies he espouses are broke, and the intelligence they depend on is desperately frail. The need for change is patent, and such change needs conviction, not cash. It needs to do what Cameron cannot bring himself to do: put Europe at the centre of this stage.
"It needs to be even-handed, not mealy-mouthed. It needs to push the lobbyists aside and insist that in this region - a region that boils on our doorstep - we have a united voice and the capability to do things that a cowed Washington will never do. It needs, in sum, the thunder of Ming, an alternative way from a true alternative party of government. But see how the moment passes."
Vacations are very important to an MP...........they are the primary perk........to be able to watch the teachers departing for the beach as term starts and to saunter back to Westminster just in time for them to begin half-term
ReplyDelete"...European dimensions that edge Washington out of much of the action."
ReplyDeleteBloody hell. The mind boggles.
Kosovo Mk II?
or
Refuse Israel entry into the Eurovision Song Contest?
or
"If Hezbollah doesn't behave we'll -
a) publish some more cartoons that will not be reproduced in the mainstream media,
b) ask the French and German press to stop being so anti-Semitic,
c) hold lots of meetings,
d) draw straws for who tells the Brits to send some sacrifices - sorry, that should read 'barely-armed observers backed by a democratic mandate for peace'. "
I feel sure that Ming is only waiting for a worthy opponent to appear, 'Flash Gordon' perhaps.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with the Dems is that they seem to view these crises as a chance to firm up their Muslim vote (hoping their stance won't alienate the rest of the voting public). Well, guess what. Most of the public can see the Dem stance for what it is. Spineless and unworthy of a party with ambition to govern.
ReplyDeleteAm I being hopelessly naive when I suggest he's staying out of it because it's a no-win situation politically and he can let the others take the heat? Unless he's got a solution in his pocket that will please everybody, immediately, he's better off keeping quiet, politically speaking.
ReplyDelete