I have to admit being tempted to go for Lord Mandelson and his assertion that the banking crash was due to the Tory reforms of the City in the late 1980s. Apparently, this introduced a dangerous level of deregulation, which Labour (bless them) fixed in 1997 despite Tory resistance. Which does of course explain why the crash happened in 2008, ten years after Labour's regulatory regime had been introduced. But no, too easy a target. Labour are dead and there is no fun kicking a corpse*.
The really mendacious idiot** was Huhne, appearing in order to glow in the sunlight that is newly shining on his party. Careful, Chris, you might burn. Anyway, he told us all about how Nick Clegg is different to the other two leaders, how he is not of the same mould, how the Lib Dems are not part of the same politics. This is, apparently, because Nick has a real background from before his political career.
Really? Let's see. His career before politics consisted of:
Attended Robinson College, Cambridge to study Archaeology and Anthropology
I was at Cambridge at about that time. Arc&Anth was the archetypal lazy degree. With little or no work required, it suited those able to get in, but unwilling to do much once there. Prince Andrew studied Arc&Anth; legend has it that his minders decided to sit for the exams - after all, they had been to all the lectures. Andrew got a 2.2; they got 2.1s.
Member of the Cambridge University Conservative Association
I remember the CUCA members. Save for a small number of sane types who generally did not more than one meeting, they were a bunch of toffee-nosed self-obsessed arrogant little ****. (Sorry, nearly turned this into a swear blog there...)
University of Minnesota, thesis on the political philosophy of the Deep Green movement
Studying politicians. Mmm. Very non-political.
Intern at The Nation, a left-wing magazine.
Writing about politicians. Mmm. Very non-political.
Brussels, trainee in the G24 Co-ordination Unit
Working to enact the policies of his political masters. Mmm. Very non-political.
Master's degree at the College of Europe in Bruges
Studying the political structures and processes of the EU. Mmm. Very non-political.
Official in the European Commission
Back working to enact the policies of his political masters. Mmm. Very non-political.
Policy adviser and speech writer in the private office of EU Commissioner Leon Brittan
Mmm. Very non-political.
Member of the European Parliament
And then his political career started. So there you have it; a life immersed in politics. Not once has he run a business, or worked to create something he could sell at a profit. He studied politicians, supported politicians, and then became a politician.
So when he and his colleagues present him as being somehow from a different mould, they are lying. They are spinning. They are proving that they are exactly the same.
Working in PR for Carlton TV might not be much, but it is easily the strongest non-political card held by any of them.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
*OK, I would make an exception for Mandelson, but the general rule stands
**What is it about Today that attracts mendacious idiots as interviewees?
Chris Huhne really curried favour by spinning it, simply trying to focus on Clegg's 'negotiating with the Chinese'. How long was that for and wasn't Clegg just a member of a delegation? To read your blog makes me realise why Humphries kept saying "Shall I tell you?".
ReplyDeleteEven at 43, Clegg strikes me as an ambitious idealist law student who is genuine but would prove ineffective. I think he should be made to write more essays to work out on unintended consequences.
Didn't Ken Clarke sound practical? I hope he has the energy and opportunity to get into the DTI and stir them up!
an ambitious idealist law student
ReplyDeleteDifficult to say, really, M. A few months ago an Anglican bishop described Clegg as "frighteningly fascist". Scratch the surface and you find someone who is determined to tell you what to do and how to think, while their policies on Europe mean decisions are taken for this country by unelected officials.
Perhaps they should be called the "Illiberal Undemocrats".
Let's hope this farce finishes tonight.