Brilliant speech by William Hague in this afternoon’s debate on the motion for the dissolution of Parliament. It sounded all the better after a particularly wooden and partisan speech from Peter Hain, to whom the lot had fallen to reply to the debate.
William, by contrast was devastating in his criticism of the Government, yet at the same time wonderfully funny. This is a flavour of his speech:
The Lord Mandelson, denied the opportunity to become Foreign Secretary by the sad combination of a Prime Minister too weak to remove his Foreign Secretary and, equally, a Foreign Secretary too weak to challenge the Prime Minister, has gone around instead collecting titles and even whole Departments to add to his name. His title now adds up to, “The right hon. the Baron Mandelson of Foy in the county of Herefordshire and Hartlepool in the county of Durham, First Secretary of State, Lord President of the Privy Council and Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills”. It would be no surprise to wake up in the morning and find that he had become an archbishop—[Laughter]. That is exactly what happened with Cardinal Wolsey.
We are left with a Government held together solely by fear. The Prime Minister is unable to remove Ministers in whom he has lost faith, for fear that they will quit altogether; Ministers are unwilling to challenge a Prime Minister in whom they have lost faith, for fear that they will no longer be Ministers; Labour Back Benchers are unwilling to remove a Prime Minister in whom they have certainly lost faith, for fear of having to have an election—and all of them are living in fear of one Minister with a very long title for whom, at the last election, no one in the country ever voted at all.
That is the situation. The Government are locked together in an embrace of mutual terror and diminished legitimacy, but their refusal to face the voters can no longer be defended. There comes a point when democratic renewal is indeed necessary, and the country knows and understands that that is now.
It was fantastical from start to finish. I think William Hague is one of the best PMs we never had – his speaking trounced that of Blair, and he would be famous around the world as the statesman he will soon become regardless of previous disappointments.
I still hold hopes he won’t be our first Leader never to have been PM…
(Poor IDS)
At least, when Mandy becomes Lord of Everything, we’ll know who to blame for Everything.