Thursday, June 21, 2007

Ramsay MacBrown

Is it only the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives who are upset about Gordon Brown's offer of Government posts to Paddy Ashdown and via Ming Campbell? I suspect that those Labour Party members who spend a great deal of their time struggling for Council, Assembly and Parliamentary seats against an often two-faced Liberalism are also squealing? The media will, of course, need time to find them as most of the accessible members of the Parliamentary Labour Party are captives in Brown's camp.

Perhaps Gordon should re-read something he once wrote -

"The second Labour Government had ended in disaster. Ramsay MacDonald was now leading a Conservative-dominated Coalition Government. The Parliamentary Labour Party, which had supported the rightward lurches of MacDonald until the day of his defection, was in disarray."
Page 225, "Maxton" by Gordon Brown (Mainstream Publishing, 1986).

Prime Minister MacBrown has defected even before he has got going. As I once heard Don Mintoff say about a new Nationalist Prime Minister in Malta - "He has barely started, he has only farted"

6 comments:

Miles Barter said...

Totally agree.
I've blogged on the day I met Paddy Ashdown.
You'll like it.
Best wishes.

Hughes Views said...

I think you might have missed some of the subtlety of this piece of politics. It must have been a pretty safe bet that they'd so 'no' (at least at the party level even though some of the individuals would have been tempted). But now, whenever they criticise him, Gordon Brown can always retort that he gave them ample chance to have more influence by moving from the comfort of opposition into the harsher world of political reality. And it might make a few of the SDP types (both members and voters) think seriously about abandoning the LibDems. Or am I perhaps adding 2 and 2 and making 10?

Harry Barnes said...

hughes views,

There are much bigger fish in the sea for the Lib-Dems than some minor non-Cabinet posts and a Northern Ireland job which has shrunk in size as long the NI Assembly holds. They are after the balance of power at a General Election and can now argue that this is something the PM also seems to envisage for them. They just have to respond to the subtlety by pointing out their differences with Brown on Iraq and other issues. Its not rocket science.

Yet we have local Labour candidates who have lost seats to the Lib-Dems or fear this. Plus our members and voters who follow this concern.

Action.... even if Paddy was something, appeals to him make it look as if we have nothings. That is what the Stokes and Coventrys will now think.

susan press said...

Harry, it's a bloody disgrace.You are right.

Harry Barnes said...

grimupnorth,
I have seen you proposal. I second it.

susan press said...

Thanks!