Sunday, August 10, 2003
Before the 1997 general election that swept Labour to power the spin-masters set up an 'instant rebuttal unit', if anyone said anything about their policies which were untrue or misleading, this unit would ensure that within hours there would be a Labour rebuttal in the media and on the news. Back to today and, a week after it happened, Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith says the Government should apologise for smearing David Kelly as a 'Walter Mitty' fantasist. What fantastic reflexes IDS has. Maybe next week he could offer his condolences to the Queen on the death of her sister and mother last year? With someone like him at the helm, the Conservative Party will be ready to fight the next General Election, several years after Labour have won it.
Having become a regular watcher of Newsnight over the last month or so I've become aware of the talents of one of his Shadow Cabinet, Oliver Letwin. Like the rest of the Conservative Party Letwin would be massively unsuitable to run anything more important than the Westminster sweetshop, but as a thorn in the government's side and opponent he seems to have found a niche from which to flourish. But then he's the Shadow of David Blunkett, so it's not difficult to appear charming and rational.
Having become a regular watcher of Newsnight over the last month or so I've become aware of the talents of one of his Shadow Cabinet, Oliver Letwin. Like the rest of the Conservative Party Letwin would be massively unsuitable to run anything more important than the Westminster sweetshop, but as a thorn in the government's side and opponent he seems to have found a niche from which to flourish. But then he's the Shadow of David Blunkett, so it's not difficult to appear charming and rational.
