Well, it has been about 10 weeks since I last made a post here, and I was going to try and find another subject to post on, but political rants are sometimes just too tempting.
If you saw Jack Straw’s interview on TV yesterday, or even just the highlights, you’ll see that he has now become a fully paid-up member of the Tony Blair waving hand gestures club. Frankly, the main point he had to say, about Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling being experienced pilots, was rather laughable, considering the current state of both economy and Labour’s position in the polls, and the fact that any new leader is always going to start with no experience:
“Let me just use this analogy - For sure, We’re in a plane - sure, we face turbulence. The question for this country is - who is better to take us through this turbulent period? Is it an experienced pilot and co-pilot in Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling, who’ve had the experience and proved that they have done better than the world situation over the last 11 years, or is it two people in David Cameron and George Osborne, who have had no experience of flying a large plane whatsoever”.
Jack Straw BBC Interview [4:50]
But behind the pointless hand movements (which might just qualify him to become an airport marshall), does Mr Straw still harbour loftier ambitions?
Now we all know that politicians say one thing when they mean another, and I just can’t help myself from thinking that what Jack Straw was really telling us yesterday is that he is itching inside for the top job. We know that he can’t be seen to make any moves to depose the current leadership himself, but as soon as somebody else makes a move for him, what would stop Mr Straw from making a bid to take the controls?
However tired most of the Cabinet might look, I’ll have to admit myself that Jack Straw is one of the few genuine heavyweights the Labour Party still have left, and he would certainly be more competent at seeing off David Cameron at the dispatch box than the lightweight David Milliband.
