Over on The Telegraph, Simon Heffer is doing his best to annoy me again.
He is suggesting that Dave Cameron should replace the Boy George with Ken Clarke as shadow chancellor and, should Dave's party win the election, hand Clarke the keys to Number 11. Please allow me to explain why this is plain wrong.
First of all, Mr. Heffer goes to great lengths to confirm his anti-EU credentials.
No one who regularly reads this column could be in doubt of my attitude towards our masters in Brussels, and how they have robbed us of our money, our sovereignty and many of our freedoms over the past 37 years.
Yes, but knowing that and being prepared to do something about it are two very different things, Mr. Heffer. Anyone who is seriously opposed to Britain's membership of the European Union can not possibly approve the appointment of someone like Clarke to such an important position in government.
Clarke doesn't just want us to be part of the EU - he wants us to be part of the Eurozone. Indeed, if he had got his way, Britain would already be using the euro as our currency. Clarke was so adamant about this point that he was prepared to support Labour in their push for the euro - the sort of behaviour that should have seen the man sacked from the Tory party!
Had Britain joined the euro then our economic position would be even worse than it currently is. The dilemma that faces Greece is nothing compared to the disastrous state our economy would be in - and Clarke wanted that.
That would make his position as Chancellor - or even shadow chancellor - untenable. How can Heffer not know this? Labour strategists aren't stupid - they'd have a field day laying into Clarke's stance on the euro and they'd make damn sure the people of Britain were aware of this.
What is more, the very idea of putting such a committed supporter of the EU into such a position in government should be a serious concern to any real EU sceptic. I don't want Clarke as Chancellor - I don't even want him on the front bench whatever side of the House he sits. I want him where I want all the other MP's who support our membership of the EU - unemployed.
There's no doubt that Cameron's front bench is inexperienced, weak and extraordinarily immature - that's the price you pay when you choose your people based on how they look rather than what they can do. The Boy George has been out of his depth since day one of his appointment and I'm not the only one who has mentioned this.
And there can be no doubt either that our economic state is such that it will require a firm and expert hand on the tiller - but appointing a man committed to handing control of our economy to a foreign government is not the way to resolve this.
1 comment:
Must agree with you. I was a lifelong member of the Conservative Party until their last spell in government. Then, directly because of Clarke's disdainful treatment of those of us who got them into power, I swore that I would never again vote Tory. It really was a classic case of the tail wagging the dog!And that was over the EU!
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