Tuesday, 3 August 2010

BETTER TO KEEP YOUR MOUTH CLOSED AND LET PEOPLE THINK YOU A FOOL, THAN OPENING IT AND REMOVE ALL DOUBT

The art of "Putting your foot in it" is it seems a great and noble British tradition. It combines timing, skill, dexterity and, in some cases, the ability to withstand a certain amount of media abuse. For centuries men have been practising and perfecting the ability to endure embarrassment of themselves and also others with split second timing, precision and accuracy.

And now as a nation we have our very own George W Bush in the form of wet behind the ears Prime Minister David Cameron. This gaffe a minute premier shows all the signs of being a diplomatic nightmare for the collective British interest over the next few years.

But am I alone in wondering why have the press not said more about it? And would they have been so forgiving if an outgoing Gordon Brown had made such stupid remarks during his last days in Number 10?

Perhaps comparing him to George W is a bit rich though? After all GWB was just plain stupid, whilst DC has had all the advantage of an Eton/Oxford education, which makes his gaffes even the more startling.

For instance consider Gaffe No. 1. in Washington in July, when he referred to Britain having been America's "junior partner in 1940 when we were fighting the Nazis." This was not just an insult to all those who served and fought and lived through World War Two, is was also cringinglly and historically incorrect? How can someone from Eton totally forget about Pearl Harbour not happening until December 1941? And where were our American cousins when we needed them at Dunkirk? and yet the media hardly mentioned his error. How on earth Cameron achieved a grade A when he took his History A-level at Eton in 1984 is any ones guess

Then a few days later in Ankara we found the Conservative Party's answer to Jeremy Clarkson sharing his views on the Gaza Strip when he referred to it as a "Prison Camp" Now I actually agree with him on this one, it is the inaction of so many before him and now of him and his government who still continue to allow Israel to openly flout International law that has created such a situation But did he not think of the potential harm he might do as Prime Minister by expressing such a comment so openly without any thought as to the consequences?Now he will have to appease the Zionists to readdress the balance!

And of course more recently we have him upsetting our Pakistani Allies by suggesting that they "Look both Ways" when dealing with terrorism and the Taliban in Afghanistan. Camerons comments linked Pakistan wrongly with the export of terror and drove a massive wedge between the two countries. Now of course it was true that a few years ago there was proof of senior Pakistani intelligence officers being involved with Taliban warlords, but to make such a comment in the current context as if nothing had changed and to do so in India! for heavens sake?

What DC seems to be guilty of is wanting too much to suck up to his hosts when abroad, wherever he may be, So in Washington he praises there non existent contribution to the war in 1940 whilst demoting Britain to also rans, without a thought as to the damage he would do back at home.

And then in Turkey. so desperate was he to sound pro Muslim to his hosts and new friends that he suddenly decides to tell the truth about Gaza which many of us having been trying to get across for years!

And again in India, he knew very well that the home Indian audience would dance with glee at his anti Pakistani ramblings, but that does not warrant his action! His rentaquote attitude to overseas hospitality is not only embarrassing, it's also downright dangerous.

Only after this latest blunder have the Press shown any real interest, and then not to any real degree. Meanwhile the Tory party tell us that he is just speaking his mind? Well I am sorry but when you are abroad as Prime Minister representing the whole Country then some account has to be given over to diplomacy.

Meanwhile the other half of Westminster's answer to Jedward, Nick Clegg has also been getting in on the act by declaring recently that redundancy could give men a welcome opportunity to “reinvent” themselves as stay-at-home dads. This of course followed hot on the heels of his gaffe at the dispatch box when he declared the war on Iraq illegal.

Now once again I agree with him, but for a statement like that to be said at the dispatch box by a deputy PM plays straight into the hands of the International Courts. He might of inadvertently done those of us who opposed the war a favour, but don't try and tell me he meant to do it!

These two men are supposed to be running the country! Instead there constant blunders are now turning us into the pariah of the world. For all my disquiet as to the actions of previous post holders can anyone really have imagined Tony Blair, or even Gordon Brown making such huge mistakes?

John Dingle once said of another young Tory Prime Minister "I'm very close to suggesting that Mr. Pitt has now served as long as he can usefully do so. He seems to take his foot out of his mouth only for purposes of changing feet."

If only John Dingle could of seen these two in action!


STOP PRESS 5th August 2010: And now according to DC speaking In Turkey

"Iran has got a nuclear weapon"

Allah deliver us

14 comments:

  1. Words fail me Tony...

    Which might please you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Northamptons Historian4 August 2010 at 10:10

    Never let the facts get in the way of a good blog Tony.

    1. Like it or not we were the junior partners to the US in WWII. We (the allied forces) would not have beaten Hitler without the support of FDR.

    2. The 'Prison Camp' was right (I do recognise your agreement with this comment)and no other PM in recent history has been so open about this view at such an early stage in their premiership.

    3. There is lots of evidence that even now, the Pakistanis do not police the border with Afghanistan in any way near the level they should do therefore allowing terrorists to be 'lost' in the border area. That is for me, and mnay others 'looking both ways.'

    4. I agree that Nick Clegg is out of his depth (that's was comes with making deals to get power not credibility) but lets not start this 'illegal' war thing again. There has been a number of inquiries and the judgement has always been the same. The war was not illegal. I know those that oppose the war will keep calling for more inquiries until they get the decision they want.

    Apart from the above I do have sympathy with your views that diplomacy is important - I am just not sure that you can have plain speaking and diplomacy?

    NH

    ReplyDelete
  3. NH we will have to agree to disagree as to the USA's contribution to WWII I personally believe that we would have overcome Hitler with our Commonwealth allies and the Russians alone. But no historian should let the matter of Cameron's comment on the date go without retribution. in 1940 we were fighting alone. the USA didn't,t enter the fray until after Pearl Harbour in 1941.

    On the other matters all I would say is that diplomacy is never about being right or wrong it is about being diplomatic! Cameron was right on Gaza, but in saying what he did when he need not have said it he has put himself in a position where he will now have to appease the Zionists to recover lost ground.

    the other point on Clegg and the illegal war is that again whilst I agree with him he shouldn't make such statements at the dispatch box as deputy PM when an Public Inquiry is in full flow and there is a risk of International Court action against the UK.

    Therefore the charge against these two chancres still remains. they are both very green and both unsuited to high office, and it is Britain's reputation that will suffer as a consequence.

    None of the above were plain speaking, all were gaffes of the highest order.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Come on then NH - explain the 'Iran has a nuclear bomb' comment from the PM. Tony Clarke did go to pains to share his view that DC is not the same as Dubya but DC is doing his best to prove us wrong.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Actually NH, Tony (and anyone else listening in) I believe if you look at it logically during WWII it would have been the USA and NOT the allied forces who were "supporting us" rather than the other way round.

    So technically (in my opinion) it is them that were the junior partners.

    We were the ones in the war first correct?

    The USA came along and joined in to help, as Tony said in 1941 (two years after the start of the war) correct?

    Therefor regardless of if you like it or not, they simply could not have been anything other than supporting our cause...

    Either way, I believe that we would have struggled to win without their help.

    And (again in my opinion) both that war, and most wars; have all carried far greater loss than they have gain.

    And yes, DC is looking to prove he can be worse than the worst we've had... but I hope I am wrong.

    ReplyDelete
  6. sorry st john lady you are not wrong over DC - we now have 'milkgate' (or should that be Cow and Gate!) from the weekend. Major u-churn. Looks like the coalition is losing its bottle. Come on Tony - what will be the next issue DC and co will mess up?

    MM

    ReplyDelete
  7. Cameron suggested the idea of fixed-term tenancies for new tenants last week, and the housing minister, Grant Shapps, continued to defend the plan this weekend, saying lifetime tenancies did not make sense.

    this MUST be the next U-TURN?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Couldn't agree more, after all "Life time tenancies do not make sense"? Make sense to who? The tenant who wants and deserves secure tenancy? or did he mean commersical sense?

    And if life tenancies make little sense then what of 99 year leases? or mortgages?

    This government shows all signs of imploding. It will be interesting to see what the local Lib Dems and Tory's say about this.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Tony
    If Shapps and Cameron were to look at alternatives, and at solutions rather than rushed soundbites and tribalism, perhaps people could find them more credible.

    Security, social cohesion, sustainable communities, hope and fairness - can any of these truly survive if Secure Tenancies are scrapped?

    My belief is that if council housing did not exist we would need to invent it

    As for what the local Lib Dems and Tory's say about it, we may need to wait till the officers at NBC tell them?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Northampton - careful there. You criticise 'soundbites' and then in your next para talk about 'social cohesion'. 'sustainable communities' and 'fairness'. All mean very little to real people in the real world.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Milk Monitor ~ you made me spit my milkshake out, thanks for the laugh ~ I needed that.

    I have to admit I thought that I'd missed something there because I could have sworn (well, not really as I'll have to put more into the swear tin) that Maggie took away the milk...

    However having been corrected, I get it now.

    It all makes for a bit of a "what happens (or will be said) next type of moment doesn't it?

    Makes me thankful I am NOT a tory!!!
    (Or Lib Dem to be honest... Think I'll just stick to support roles)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Forget the Cameron-isms and the actually quite funny comments from the Milk Monitor ....whats all this I read in the Chron of Tony 'Ten Jobs' Clarke?

    Surely being a County and Borough Councillor takes more that a day a half a week? Working for the coalition FCO too? Come on Tony, tell us more?

    ReplyDelete
  13. Not much to say really Independence.. Ten Jobs? Maths obviously is not your subject.

    I do about one day a week for the football clubs charity FiTC as Chief Exec sometimes if they need this will be more.

    I work with my Brothers firm usually two days a week, and my IDeA work assessing Councils is not every week but maybe 2/3 days on the trot every now and again.

    The FCO work is because I am on their list of overseas deployable experts but I turned the last job down assisting the police in Iraq because I had too much on at home.

    Most of the Borough Council work is in the evening and our less than democratic County Council only meets as a full council about 5 times a year!! and thery try there hardest to keep me out of aything else. I do turn up at Cabinet though to annoy them.

    Case work is done when it is needed and there are 7 days in a week not 5.

    Overall it balances itself out well, but the football club on top of everything else was pushing it.

    Anyone involved in local politics these days has to multi task and multi job. If I relied on my County and Borough Council income my total recompense for being Leader of the Independent Groups on both Councils would be a staggering £14,000 a year!(&6700 Borough and £7200 County at present I think)

    And that hardly pays the bills.

    ReplyDelete
  14. And he STILL doesn't have time for a friendly hug and cup of coffee!!!

    What with the family, jobs, book he never writes etc...

    ReplyDelete

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