Telegraph Column: The Dastardly & Mutley of British Politics

Telegraph Column: The Dastardly & Mutley of British Politics

Iain Dale 8:56 PM

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TUNE IN TO THE WESTMINSTER HOUR ON RADIO 4 @ 10.10PM WHEN I WILL
BE TAKING PART IN A DISCUSSION ON BLOGGING AND POLITICS WITH
CAROLYN QUINN AND SUNDER KATWALA OF THE FABIAN SOCIETY
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Tomorrow, I make my debut on the much sought after first page of the Daily Telegraph's Comment Section. It will be my third column for them in four days. So much for my demise on their pages. It's a comeback worthy of Peter Mandelson!

My remit was to write 1,500 words about my own experience at the hands of Draper and McBride. It's a very personal account. Here's a taster...

Thanks to Damian McBride and Derek Draper, whom I like to think of as the Dick Dastardly and Mutley of British politics, I have had to abort my Easter plans... Over the past two days, it has been said that McBride should have had better things to do than indulge in political assassination. There's an economy to save, after all. But political assassination is exactly what he does. He is not a foreign affairs or economy adviser. He is a political boot-boy whose function was to work on the PM's behalf, which is why it is a bit rich for Brown now to pretend he is shocked to discover what McBride got up to. Brown wrote McBride's job description and left him to get on with it. As ye sow, so ye shall reap...

Some may see this as a schoolboy spat between two bloggers with egos the size of a mountain. Maybe. But my experience is important as it demonstrates how the Number Ten lie machine will target anyone whose reputation it wishes to damage. I'm in a position to fight back, but what about the dozens of journalists who have to accept the bullying for fear of being ostracised and never getting another story; or the dozens of MPs and ministers who know that to speak out is to invite career disaster?

Perhaps this sort of affair is symptomatic of something more deep-rooted at the heart of government. All administrations flag after a while. They become gaffe- prone. People go off-message more frequently. A sense of malaise is almost palpable. It's what happens when empires crumble. A bunker mentality sets in and the leader encourages the wagons to circle. It took 11 years for it to happen to Margaret Thatcher, but with Gordon Brown it has taken less than two...

If Gordon Brown really wants to bring about a new era at Downing Street, he can do several things – take away Alastair Campbell's pass which gives him free access to the building; reshuffle Tom Watson out of Number Ten; but most significantly of all, tell Derek Draper his services as editor of LabourList are no longer required.

The trouble is, our Prime Minister is wedded to the notion that seeking political conflict and dividing lines is the be all and end all. And he's incapable of changing.

Read the full article HERE, or be really old fashioned and wait for the print edition tomorrow.