January 28
2004
The past 24 hours
» Posted on January 28, 2004 04:01 PM » Category: UK politics

There are two clear losers from the past 24 hours: the BBC, which is now in crisis after its shameful behaviour.; and Michael Howard, who has been shown to be a political opportunist of the worst kind. First, he opposed the introduction of the very market-mechanism into higher education to which Conservative principles clearly point. Second, since becoming leader, he has taken every opportunity to accuse Mr Blair of lying; when confronted with a Hutton Report which shows his accusations to be baseless, he was made to look inept, cheap and lacking in judgement in his response to the Prime Minister in the Commons.

But it is far from all joy for Mr Blair. In the short-term, certainly, the landscape has been transformed. But the medium and long-term picture is rather different. Lord Hutton looked only at a very narrow issue: how and why David Kelly came to die, and the responsibilities of those involved. His report had nothing to do with the war itself, which is what divides the country and the Labour Party.

In the medium term, yesterday’s 5 vote win is far more important. A Blair defeat would have at least cleared the air and hastened his departure. That would - despite the braggadocio from the Tories about wanting Blair to go – have been something of a nightmare for Howard, just as in reverse in 1990 the last thing Labour wanted was the departure of Maggie and the feeling that there has already been a change of government.

The Tories have what they wanted – a fatally wounded Blair still in office, his position sealed (buoyed even) by Hutton, but limping on when it comes to the meat and drink of domestic politics and vulnerable to all sorts of attacks over the failure of the public sector from Tories – and, indeed, from his own party, which smells blood.

Make no mistake, New Labour is now over. The top-up fees vote was merely a vote on the principle. Now come the votes on the details.

The Labour Party is now embarking on a prolonged civil war between the tiny guerrilla group of Blairite true believers and the bigger band of Brownites (lumped together with the rabble Campaign group types) with the vast majority sitting by on the sidelines waiting to see what happens. Blair’s authority is in tatters, and all chance of further reform across other areas is now over.

The likely outcome is Blair stays in office, wins the next election, and then disappears having done almost nothing between now and then, leaving Brown to take over and to govern as a traditional social democrat, uninterested in public sector reform.

New Labour formally ended last night.


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Comments

So, lets see if I've got this right. Blair and the government -blameless. Campbell- not a stain on his character. The intelligence services had no doubts about the contents of the dossier. Dr Kelly did not tell Gilligan that he thought the dossier had been sexed up. Gilligan therefore, lied about Dr Kelly's comments. The BBC supported that lie. Mmmmmmmmm.
So why exactly did Kelly kill himself? And still no shred of evidence of even trace of WsMD? Will Hoon even get off scott free? What a shower!

Stated by: wallywindbag on January 28, 2004 4:45 PM

Not sure I get your point, since everything you state is pretty much spot on, yes. Apart from rather odd last paragraph.

Stated by: Stephen Pollard on January 28, 2004 4:59 PM

Come off it, Stephen. you're too intelligent to play dumb. Surely Tony Blair and Alastair Campbell must be very disappointed that Lord Hutton didn't recommend them for canonisation? But then they aren't dead yet so that would have been premature...... Silly me.

Stated by: Michael McGowan on January 28, 2004 5:10 PM

Incredible outcome. I've never doubted the bias and lack of integrity al-BBC, but for the Government to get off virtually without criticism is astonishing. Maybe Hutton didn't want to end up dead in a field.

Stated by: Pete Moore on January 28, 2004 6:14 PM

Well at least one, enduring myth has been exploded. I mean the one that states that all lawyers and especially judges are possessed of very fine minds. This myth is mostly kept going by lawyers themselves who insist, despite the evidence, in referring to each other as 'm' learned friend'!

It is evident from his report that Lord Hutton is not just the opposite of 'learned', he's a booby. He must be because the suspicion that his Lordship is a government stooge is completely unfounded, unwarranted, disgraceful, etc, etc, blah, blah, blah.

So, booby he must be! How else to explain the fact that he found no inconsistency in Blair chairing the meeting that decided to 'out' Kelly's identity and his declaration to a plane full of journos that he, Blair, had absolutely nothing to do with it?

His Lordship's subsequent determination to find the source who leaked his rubbish report to the Sun and to take legal action confirms my long-held suspicion that our legal profession have absolutely no idea of what the word liberty means.

As for the BBC, my rage is such that I can hardly put it into words. That I have to pay a tax to support such a collection of dim-witted, blundering, unintelligent jacks-in-office incapable of thinking their way through the simplest of problems makes me sick! Surely now there can be no arguement to prevent the wholesale privatisation of this 'Fawlty Towers' corporation and the mass sacking of its smug, purblind and useless management.

Stated by: David Duff on January 28, 2004 8:51 PM

Ah yes. Hutto vindicates Blair. And along comes Gollum the Ultra-Tory.
"He did lie! He did, he did. We hates him, we hates him so much! We should rule, my preciousss! Nassty, horrid New Labour...spin doctorsss...Tony's croniessss..."

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