Events occured during the course of the past week that did not show politics nor politicians in a very good light at a time when their image had been thought to have reached it's nadir. I refer to the treatment handed out to Nadine Dorries by David Cameron at Prime Minister's Questions; the reasons behind what I believe to be a disgraceful and disrespectful display of manners; and George Osborne's unacceptable behaviour at the GQ magazine awards ceremony.
I have no comment on the question of abortion, nor that of Dorries' amendment as that is neither here or there in the context of this post. I have read suggestions that Cameron's answer to Dorries' question was deliberate and that it was due to his sense of humour - whether that is true or not is again neither here nor there. What is important is the fact that he failed to answer her question, an obligation he must surely have, coupled with the fact that he felt it necessary to apologise, according to the Mail-Online, by text message. The fact he did not feel able to apologise at the time speaks volumes of a superficial man who is happy to get a cheap laugh at the expense of a woman and one who, in relation to Cameron, is a subordinate. As an aside, I find it odd that Dorries having apparently accepted his apology then has an article in the print edition directly underneath the story about Cameron's texted apologies, but I digress.......
George Osborne, it seems to me, needs to take his position as Chancellor of the Exchequer and a Member of Parliament far more seriously than he does. Smutty jokes are not funny as they tend to show an adolescent schoolboy sense of humour and are not something one expects of a national politician. Not only does it show disrespect of his high office, it also shows a disrespect of himself.
The far more important matter requires a return to Nadine Dorries and the question (col: 354) she asked of David Cameron. It is a fact that the Liberal Democrats have constrained Cameron and the implementation of the manifesto on which he fought the last general election. Policies on the Health Service and the attempt to repatriate powers from the EU, to name but two, have been thwarted by Nick Clegg and his party. That Cameron took an easy and as I have said a cheap way out to avoid what was a serious question - and one that he could not answer without confirming what all believe to be true, namely that it is indeed the tail wagging the dog - illustrates that, as Hague confirmed only a day ago, his career matters more to him than any sense of duty towards the country he is supposed to serve and which he professes to love.
3 comments:
I don't think the Nadine Dorries affair debased politics or politicians, both have already gone so far beyond debasement that such behaviour can only be considered 'normal' within the parliamentary sphere. It also strikes me that the leading lights of all the main parties are fully signed up members of the sniggering class, perhaps it has something to do with the inherited wealth they believe makes them so superior and so much better than anyone else.
As for coalitions being the tail that wags the dog, it has ever been thus. The degree of wagging the majority party is prepared to accommodate is directly proportional to its lust for power. In Cameron's case this was obviously all-consuming, given the influence allowed the LibDems, indeed I think he would have simply accepted the LibDem manifesto in its entirety had he been pressed, arguing no doubt that it was all Tory policy anyway.
For a clique that made attractiveness to female voters a key issue compared to David Davis with women supporters wearing "D D " T-shirts, Cameron and Osborne have really been caught with their pants down.
It is funny really how they trash themselves, they have arrogance but no self-respect.....had they been born with nickel spoons they would be chavs
PC: It is indeed a rare occasion when you and I disagree - and this is most definitely not one of them!
TT: Likewise
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