As the season of cultural prizes (Booker, Turner etc) comes around again, along with the Party Conferences, it is no surprise to me that the theatre of politics (as distinct from political drama of the kind now on at the National Theatre) remains firmly centre stage.
Enter right : General Sir Richard Dannatt, Constable of the Tower of London, former head of the British Army, and future Tory Peer.
Enter left : Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling who - "out of the loop" as they say in spin - misheard details of Sir Richard's forthcoming peerage in a television interview.
Grayling thought the General was to be honoured by the present Government. The fact is, of course, that there is really very little difference between Conservative and New Labour policy on military strategy.
However, Grayling is very lucky his kind aren't still sent to the Tower for such faux pas, notwithstanding that the likes of the General still wield too much power and influence.
For, let's face it, the upper strata of the British military and defence establishment are as much to blame as the present government for current problems in Afghanistan, except that they are proving rather better in the PR war at home than our politicians.
No comments:
Post a Comment