Ming FU’d by the Hood?
So old man Ming has (if you believe the official line) decided to step down as Lib Dem leader ‘for the good of the party.’ But, did he step down, or did he jump? Was he, perhaps, stabbed in the back like Caesar by less honourable and smaller men?
The Lib Dem pack that are circling round his tomb (the body lies elsewhere) or rather the BBC TV Centre, claim that Ming went of his own accord, and that he spoke to no one about his decision, and that he does not want to give a press statement.
I would find this all rather hard to believe had not the Honourable Simon Hughes MP and the Honourable Vince Cable MP said (if not the steps of the Senate, at least outside Lib Deb HQ) that there was no nasty business and that the decision was all down to Ming. These honourable men then praised Campbell while burying him in the potter’s field that now holds the remains of so many ex-leaders.
Still what’s bad news for some is good news for others. Conspiracy theorists can put down that new book about Dallas, forget the latest dreary tabloid titbit about Diana, and bin their moon landing ‘mock up’ pictures. For who toppled Ming will play for a while yet, as there are a number of inconsistencies in the story we have been told so far. For starters:
• No one claims to have spoken to Ming before he made his decision
• No one claims to have spoken to him during yesterday
Which would mean that Ming just ‘submitted’ his resignation and fled back to Scotland without actually speaking directly to anyone! And how then did he make this submission, by post, by email, by native runner?
The announcement by the Honourables Si and Vi was made late afternoon early evening. Yet a BBC Newsnight reporter was interviewing a Lib Dem councillor in Twickenham (Cable’s consistency) about why Ming should go (the counsellor claimed that the seat was a marginal, which should give the local Tories a warm rosy glow) as early as 15.00! Later the honourable gentlemen were sitting in the BBC’s Newsnight studio (was it really a coincidence that it was Paxman’s night off?)! Were the Beeb ‘briefed’ (that’s tipped off to you and me) before the event that ‘no one’ knew about?
The most suggestive thing of all Watson is the behaviour of Ming the man himself. Think of him what you will, he may appear ancient and a little out of touch, but he has always appeared to be a ‘what you see is what you get’ kinda guy. He is as truthful and honest as any politician can be. He is a team player and has always displayed courage in personal adversity. So why now did he jack the job in and turn tail and run for those there hills? The Campbell I have seen over the past months would have made a statement, absolved his colleagues of all blame, and stayed as leader until a successor could have been elected. Unless of course he had been given an overwhelming blow, an emotional stab in the back….. Betrayal by so called friends and colleagues can feel just like that.
All the above seems like a plotline from ‘House of Cards.’ All we need is a Francis Urquhart figure to step forward. Do the Lib Dems have one on hand, already emerging centre left from the wings? Well you might like to put a name forward, but I could not possibly comment.
Now Ming has gone, what are we left with? The feeling that those ‘nice’ Lib Dems aren’t nice at all -they kick alcoholics and old men alike when they are down. We also have their ‘acting’ new leader, Simon Hughes’ equally honourable cohort, Vince Cable. It may have been due to all the media attention and the studio and outside broadcast lights but my didn’t he look sweaty? I don’t know why, as he seems to have been camping out at the Beeb for months, as he is always popping up to speak for ‘his’ party on the box.
Whether or not Vince was the vanquisher of Ming the merciless, he is now Lib Dem leader. Which must be nice for him, if a trifle uncomfortable, as he has on a number of occasions voted against the party he is now leading in the House of Commons! Does he believe he can win a leadership election? Well, he has not ruled himself out, and says he is not too old (but isn’t that what ‘old’ Campbell said?). However, do the honourable Liberals Dems really want another old (even balder) man to lead them? And if so, do they really think it’s a good idea to replace Ming the merciless with someone that looks like the villain from Thunderbirds?
If anyone has any information about the Civil War service of Light Company A, Second U.S. Artillery, please contact me via this site. I am particularly interested in individual members of the battery - officers, non-commissioned officers or privates.
SPECIAL NOTICE: Over the next few weeks I will be migrating all the existing information about Battery A from this site to one decated to the subject. See Battery A 2nd US Artillery link in Blogroll below.
