Write a Book about Courage, Act Like a Coward

New Labour has just confirmed that it will not be contesting the Haltemprice and Howden by-election. It is an act of cowardice.

I can understand the Lib Dems - they have opposed 42 days.

But Gordon Brown had to have to bully and cajole (and possibly bribe) MPs to get a bill through Parliament and then not put up a candidate for a by-election called because of that single issue is an act of cowardice - it shows that they are scared of the debate - that can be the only reason.

42 Day Deals - Bribery?

I was having a chat last night with someone in my County Council Division last night. It started off as a ward matter but moved onto discuss politics in general and, in particular, David Davis and the 42 Day debate.

I talked with him about some of the speculation that is flying around about deals having been done guaranteeing certain seats, offering Chairmanships of committees and the like. His first response was that these are not deals, they are bribery. On reflection, I think he is right.

A deal would involve compromising on the content of the bill (some of which did happen and is legitimate) or, arguably bartering between the content of the 42 days bill and another one, but offering someone a Chairmanship of committee (for which they will more than likely be paid) is something different.

I would be interested to know, if this were proven, what the legal position would be?

What Cost 42 Days

Obviously the biggest cost of yesterday's vote in favour of 42 days is to civil liberties. In order to win a vote on an issue where he had public opinion on his side Gordon Brown happily agreed to sign away a system put in place by the Magna Carta nearly 800 years ago. We should be in no doubt, Gordon Brown did not do this because he thought it was the right thing to do - there was nowhere near enough evidence to support that line - he did it because the British public are in favour of 42 days because of their fears over terrorism, which is not the same thing as genuine expert opinion supporting his case.

However, it seems there is also a huge financial cost. If the rumours are right he has sold his soul in some way to the DUP in order to gain their support - something that will not endear him to the left of his own party - but it seems that this agreement is along the lines of a £200m commitment. Who knows what other deals have been done with people from his own party for their votes - certainly this can only mean the diversion of yet more funds away from Conservative areas.

I wonder however, whether between now and the point where the Bill comes back before the Commons, the details of his dirty deals will leak out and he will upset some of his own side who were not offered incentives to vote with him causing an even bigger revolt as a result.