There is an old Laotian proverb which seems apt this morning:
Live with vultures, become a vulture; live with crows, become a crow.
Why? Just read this from Iain Dale, this morning:
The Labour MP Piara Khabra has died thus causing a by election. I’m not at my desk but I believe the LibDems are in second place in his Ealing seat. According to the Guardian the LibDems will be in government by the time the by election takes place. Much chuntering among Labour MPs this morning I gather. More later when I am out of this EI breakfast meeting titled CAN CAMERON CRACK IT? Some interesting perspectives here…
What? You sure you wouldn’t like to speculate on the size of his estate and the employment prospects of his constituency staff as well, while your on?
“Labour MP Piara Khabra has died thus causing a by election” – and I dare say a fair bit of upset to his family and friends as well, something I consider of rather more import than whether or not the fucking Lib Dems are in second place in Ealing.
Look, if you can’t keep you mouth shut until after the fucking funeral, then you might at least offer your condolences to his family before setting about calculating the odds for the by election that will follow in due course.
And some people wonder why the political classes are considered to out of touch with reality.
For a Conservative, Dale has a Liberal approach to the death of MPs.
Lest me forget- the disgraceful events at Eastbourne, where the Liberals were leafletting BEFORE THE FUNERAL of Ian Gow.
I seem to remember that the leaflets gave their condolences to his family and friends as well…so that’s all fucking right then.
Dale may be a sad little man- I have a feeling the Liberals in Southall will prove themselves to be a bigger collection of cunts than he could ever be.
epsilon, I believe Unity made it pretty clear that this was not a party-political criticism, but rather directed at ‘the political classes’ in general.
Hmmm. Interesting. I note there’s no comment here on the fact that some people in the constituency previously represented by the late Piara Khabra have reported an upsurge in telephone canvassing by the Labour Party in the last two weeks. Of course, the Labour party wouldn’t stoop so low as to do something like that knowing their sitting MP was laying on his death-bed, and wanting to get their campaign started early would they?
David:
1. These allegations have only appeared after I wrote this post and I’ve just become aware of them.
2. The origin of these calls has been cited as Bishop Auckland – there is a call centre in nearby Wolsingham than handles some canvassing for the party, but as I don’t work there I have no idea on what instructions, if any, the staff have received in respect to canvassing any area, let alone Khabra’s former constituency.
3. Before reaching any judgement on this I would prefer to see some corroboration from a site other than Lib Dem Voice and more information as to the content of these alleged calls. We are in the middle of a Deputy Leadership election, on the back of which the party has been promoting membership of the party, which also could account for such calls.
4. My views on the proper respect and decorum due when dealing with death are the same – this is not a party political issue for me at all – and the generality of my remarks can be taken to apply to anyone failing to treat such matters in a proper and suitably respectful manner.