Sunday, September 16, 2007

Dr Death and the Liberal Democrats

The press cuttings were delivered to my hotel room this morning. A quick flick through told me that David Owen (aka Dr Death) was making a reappearance on the political stage. Sadly for Dr Death, he is a figure that has now been largely forgotten by the good people of the UK. Instead of a front line political career in the Lib Dems when the SDP and Liberals merged in 1988, Dr Death (middle name Ego) decided to storm off into the wilderness to create a shortlived party (SDP Tick) in his own image.

The historical ineptitude of the press today however is amazing. He is variously described as a great figure of the Liberal Democrats, or the Liberal movement. Dr Death has never been a member of the Lib Dems and he has spent most of the past 20 years trying to destroy us. It is no coincidence that on the eve of our conference, he is making pro-Brown pronouncements, almost certainly assisted by the vast Brown spin machine which, far from being dismantled, is growing ever bigger.

A political handshake with Dr Death however is the equivalent of taking hold of a live wire. You are going to get hurt! Owen has shown that he can make serious errors of judgement. He is a person whose ego is far bigger than his common sense. It could of course have been so much different. He could have led the SDP into the merged party instead of throwing his toys out of the pram. Frankly, if Brown wants him, he's welcome to him.

I wonder how Labour members in Gateshead (especially the ones with the big egos reading this blog) are taking to yet another inclusion of an old enemy in the big tent of Gordon Brown. The big tent however is an image rather than reality. It is all for show so that Chairman Stalin Brown can appear inclusive and nice whislt ensuring all power rests in his hands. Perhaps it is more a case of a big top than a big tent with Brown's political circus there to entertain and bamboozle the audience. The question is, who is taking on the role of the clown. Back to Dr Death I think...

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