Saturday, August 02, 2008

I`m Alright Jack

Milliband Milliband Milliband, that’s all I ever hear, but I `ll tell you who will be calculating quietly . Jack (the survivor ) Straw .His teflon qualities are in sharp contrast to Brown`s current incarnation as Mr. Fly-paper and he is exactly what Labour deserve
He was the Ă©minence grise chiefly responsible for the sagely counselling against a quick honeymoon election . No blame attached to him for the anti climax ,however , despite his pre election tub thumping about have-a -go-heroes at the Labour Party conference. Naturally he forgot to introduce any such legislation during his time as home secretary between 1997 ands 2001.
As a young man he was hired as an adviser by Barbara Castle for his “guile and low cunning”.He became fashionable Euro-sceptic left in the 1980s but turned into an ardent New labour cheerleader ‘when the mood shifted ‘. He made the case for an EU Constitution but bounced Blair into a referendum in April 2004 while Bambi was on vac.. When the French and Dutch voted against it he was so vilely gleeful Blair was supposed to have put the phone down with words “What a tart “
He invited the Islamist Muslim Council of Britain ( The MCB) and hung Denis Mc Shane out to dry when he suggested that Muslims had a responsibility to root out terrorists . Once again he shimmied out of trouble by objecting to Muslim women covering their faces in his surgery ‘when the mood shifted ‘. He was an implacable opponent of electoral reform dismissing Roy Jenkins’ proposals as “complex”. Latterly the alternative vote system was always his idea .
He was intimately connected with Iraq as Foreign Secretary but managed to send a memo suggesting that we should not join the Americans , it soon became less than entirely confidential .Yes he introduced the Freedom of information but has spent much of his time undermining its principle. He was a key figure in blocking the release of the sexed up dossier . He was campaign manager to Blair and the to Brown and now he is positioning himself as the ‘”Caretaker leader” showing ,in his insidious way, as little loyalty as Milliband , but retaining deniability as ever . This, when unlike the younger crew, he might have been expected to take some flak for the endless misjudgements this clown’s car of an administration has served up. Not he
Should Straw accept an interim role and then be oddly slow to relinquish it while the Labour attack team pick off his rivals no-one should be surprised . War , famine and flood pass over the land but whatever Armageddon befalls us , there will always be cockroaches .

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Blimey, he's worse than I thought. Excellent piece, n, except for that vile thing in your picture. Wouldn't a toad have done? No perhaps not.

I've just spent half the night chasing a toad around my kitchen, trying to save its life and ensure I get sleep tonight by taking it down to our stream. What an slippery begger he was. Just like I'm alright Jack from the sound of it.

You've not mentioned that odd business with Condi when he fawned and smarmed all over her, took her to meet some of his muslim constituents and made it appear that he and Condi got on like a house on fire. Later Condi is supposed to have told Blair she was horrified by Straw's conduct and the US is reported to have demanded Straw was sacked.

Newmania said...

I think you are the queen of anti Nu Lab detail Flo. I `m amazed what you come up with

Mark Wadsworth said...

Ah, but what about Keith Vaz?

From a much weaker position he has flip flopped like topsy, he'd put Jack Straw to shame, the frightening thing is, half of what Keith Vaz says is quite agreeable, even though you know that the other half makes you want to retch.

Alfred the Ordinary said...

Don't forget his July 2007 Green paper "The Governance of Britain". Sunk without trace now?
From his Foreword
But today we want to go further. We want to forge a new relationship between
government and citizen, and begin the journey towards a new constitutional
settlement – a settlement that entrusts Parliament and the people with more power.
The proposals published in this Green Paper seek to address two fundamental
questions: how should we hold power accountable, and how should we uphold
and enhance the rights and responsibilities of the citizen?


Did he really ever intend to answer those two questions?

Nick Drew said...

agree with Mark, I tend to group Straw and Vaz together

libel laws prevent full comment on either

there is a problem with Straw: apparently he is well regarded in the civil service for being highly effective from their own self-interested standpoint, and a non-interferer when it comes to them pursuing their nasty little private agendas

so he may get Help From Unexpected Quarters

which, let's face it, could be the deciding factor in a down-n-dirty leadership struggle

(word verif is evelfs, which seems about right)

Old BE said...

I have always had a very deep-seated dislike for Straw. I will be genuinely worried if he slips into No. 10. I would prefer Kinnock or Harman to Straw.

Bill Quango MP said...

Jack Straw is like Martin Bormann.
Far too clever to fall for the ideology of NuLabour, but shrewd enough to position himself with a power base and able to pull the strings and open the doors while rarely having to leave the shadows for long.

It will be necessary to have him on side for whoever makes the leadership bid.
Naturally, he will be on the winning side.

Newmania said...

Good spleen all round but the whisler is very much Milly Milly Milly


Thanks Alfred The O

Mark must look in chez vous

Anonymous said...

and he looks like the demon head master as well...a great piece by the way. Deserves a wide audience...

Little Black Sambo said...

Right on the nail, as usual.
(If the toad was literally slippery, it was a frog.)

Newmania said...

The slipperyness of frogs is something I have often noticed LBS

Blog Archive