"Gordon Brown had nothing to do with this. You apologise for the things you are responsible for"Would someone please explain to me in what way the Prime Minister is not responsible for what is done by his staff in his office? Staff that he appointed? Staff that followed him to his present position, and who have been with him for many years?
Mr Johnson said he felt "some shame" for the tactics that his party had been engaged in. So, you see, every now and then a Labour Minister does get something right.
Mind you, he went on to suggest that as the person involved had resigned, the issue was now closed. Like **** it is.
When Alan Johnson says "The issue is now closed", all one can say is "Well, he would, wouldn't he."
ReplyDeleteMuch more surprising is his statement "You apologise for the things you are responsible for." Mr Johnson is part of a culture which has spent the last few years apologising for slavery, colonialism, the treatment of aboriginal peoples and and a hundred and one other institutions and events from previous centuries.
In a sense he's right that the issue is closed. If the plans had gone ahead, and these allegations had been published on a website, and Guido had then revealed the contents of the emails, it would, I suppose, have been a different matter, and we might have been treated to an interesting defamation case.
So let us agree that the matter is closed. But the dirt will stick. Those whose minds are not closed will generally draw the same conclusion as Derek Scott.
Why are Labour instructed to be apologetic about expenses, as demonstrated by Jacqui Smith's grovelling regret about her actions on Radio 4, yet in respect to these totally disgraceful emails, everyone pretends to be an ostrich? Where has Labour left their swords? I'd ask Mandy about double standards if I was a member of the Cabinet.
ReplyDelete"Much more surprising is his statement "You apologise for the things you are responsible for." Mr Johnson is part of a culture which has spent the last few years apologising for slavery, colonialism, the treatment of aboriginal peoples and and a hundred and one other institutions and events from previous centuries."Yes, well, it would be churlish to poiint out that those apologies gained votes, while this apology is likely to lose them. ;)
ReplyDeleteWhen a politician apologises it has as much depth as a shadow cast in a dark room by a broken bulb.
ReplyDeleteWell spotted, Mr B!
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