Oct 02 2007
The retreat from Basra - more spin
Readers of this site and of the press will know that the governemnt has been planning a retreat from Basra in stages for some time. We were briefed earlier this summer that first our forces would be concentrated at the base near the airport, withdrawing from the city centre, and then subsequently some forces would be withdrawn from Iraq altogether. We also were led to believe that the present Prime Minister is very keen to recreate Parliament’s primacy in hearing about and voting on matters of military deployment, so any statement about further withdrawals would be made to Parliament first.
It is no wonder people are cynical about this government when we awake this morning to a leading story, presumably from sources close, that troops will be withdrawn from the Basra base soon. Why did someone in government need to spin this story - without attribution or press conference - today of all days? Why can’t such an announcement await a Parliamentary statement on Monday? What does it add to the inspired leaks about withdrawal earlier this summer?
Could it be that the government was looking around for a story which might upstage the Conservative Conference? How does it relate to the Prime Minister’s stated wish to restore the importance of Parliament in our political life? Will there be a leak enquiry?
John Redwood has been the Member of Parliament for Wokingham since 1987. First attending Kent College, Canterbury, he graduated from Magdalen College...
Come on John, of course there won’t be a leak enquiry, had there going to be one, the news of it would have already been leaked!!
I watched the some of the conference yesterday and was somewhat concerned about the term debate used to describe the “Fixing a broken society” section. I thought the word debate suggested discussion with views expressed by all sides. To me the debate(sic) was little more than a presentation as there was no discussion from the delegates or any where else for that matter. Is this what party conferences have become…little more than a week long “This is what to think” exercise from the leadership? I would expect it and saw it last week from Labour….but I would not expect it from our own party. I always thought party conferences were to get views from the party members via debates and thus formulate party policy….Is this old fashioned? Do the leadership not trust the members to think for themselves?
Reply: In the current mood of everyone wanting unity, and with the possibility of an early election, you should not expect debates which would allow the media to present the Conservative party as divided. I too think that is a pity, but that is today’s reality because sensible debate is always now presented as “division”. Go the blogsites and public phone-ins for a stronger conversation.
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Well, I think we can all guess why Labour politicians would want to float the story. What really defies explanation is why the BBC should agree to use a story that, so far as I can remember, was unsourced, unclear (”The PM has been receiving advice” - from whom?), unverifiable, undateable, and generally without any actual checkable content at all, as their news lead today.
Who? What? Why? Where? When? How? The story failed every test.
If the Conservatives win the next election, whenever it is, and are yet too scared to privatise the BBC (hey, there’s a
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You didn’t really believe all that nonsense about the importance of Parliament from Commissar Brown did you? Ten years of stealth taxes, culminating in the overthrow of a Prime Minister tells us all we need to know about this dreadful man and his dreams of a totalitarian state run by him.
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Gordon Brown’s visit to British forces in Iraq shows his understanding of the media (soundbite and photo opportunity accompanied by his perennial double counting).
It also demonstrates his unparalleled self-regard and his lack of care for the men and women doing his bidding. We might well want to see his televised appearance accompanied by an analysis of how many of our forces have died because he (no-one else is to blame) would not make available the funds for proper equipment. The lack of a protected personnel carrier and the use of old Land Rovers is down to him.
The nation provided the resources needed over the past ten years by painful tax increases - all frittered away. A fraction of this money would have given our services the kit they need. And he has the gall to promote himself around British bases!
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The issue of trust is something the Conservatives should have been playing on for months and it’s still right at the front of the public consciousness, so disgraceful actions such as these should be hastily put in front of the voters. David Davis must be fuming.
http://lettersfromatory.wordpress.com/2007/10/03/sorry-you-had-the-limelight-stolen/
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According to Newsnight of the 1000 troops that were withdrawn 500 had already been sent home and the rest had not yet been deployed to Iraq
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