There’s been quite a bit of upheaval in British politics over the past week. Tony Banks and Merlyn Rees both went off to the great division lobby in the sky, while Charles Kennedy learned that, in Britain, having a drink problem (or any other unsavoury personal issue) seems to be considered far worse than waging a disastrous, unjust war or eroding ancient civil rights.
However Tony Banks is ultimately remembered, one of his greatest strengths was his ability to cut through pomposity and chicanery with a choice quip. Yesterday’s Guardian featured a nice selection of funny, pointed and downright sarcastic quotations.
I’ve always liked Charles Kennedy, but it was clear that his personable, easy-going manner was eventually going to be his downfall, especially given his consumption of alcohol. Even before all the talk of alcoholism, he was perfectly open about liking a drink in his leisure time, which, while perfectly normal behaviour for the vast majority of British adults, is still considered justifiable grounds for the hypocritical middle class moralising that clouds so much political debate in this country.
Oh well, time for another victim to step into the thankless position of leading the LibDems. Menzies Campbell looks like the most likely candidate, and I imagine he’d be a lot more effective than any Bright Young Thing against the combined fake PR shimmer of Tony Blair and Tony Tory. However, I hope the party members are considering carefully the wisdom of having a leader whose name 98.7% of the population can’t actually pronounce ;-)
Speaking of which, this week also saw the unusual case of a senior military officer roundly criticising his political master. General Sir Michael Rose, former commander of the UN protection force in Bosnia, wrote an article in yesterday’s Guardian, which I recommend reading.