The Sketch: Five years late, Charlie finds the 'Third Wa-hey!'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.He had some perfectly good points to obscure the left-right division between his Liberals and his Democrats. His position on ID cards, civil liberties, proportional representation, Iraq and our British identity are above or beyond tribal divisions. He ignored the issues that weren't - health funding, the tax burden, redistribution.
On the negative side. It wasn't quite drivel but the best of it was very old. Did I say it was five days late? It was five years late. Tony Blair was making most of the same arguments 10 years ago. Charlie really did say we had to be tough on crime and the causes of crime. He really did say there was no conflict between economic liberalism and social justice. When I suggested Charlie had to put the Blair proposition to his party I didn't mean just steal the bloody quotes and serve them up as his own. As he had obviously availed himself of a Dictionary of Political Quotations for the Last Decade let me offer up the old Dr Johnson chestnut: the speech was both good and original "but the parts that are good are not original and the parts that are original are not good".
The identity passage - "I am a Highlander first, then a Scot" and then a Briton and then a European - was stale three years ago. He nicked Norman Tebbit's cricket test to establish his local credentials. He trotted out the expression "the gentleman in Whitehall does not know best". He told us we had "hard choices" ahead. He wants to give power and money to ... he had to find words other than "the many not the few" and didn't really succeed. That was a direct lift from Blair in Conference 2000. The fundamental civil right is safety? That's Blair, word for word.
Charlie is fumbling and stumbling towards a great policy position. I have a feeling he's going to announce with enormous pride that he has found a way forward that is neither left nor right but something he is thinking of calling the Third Way. The Third Wa-hey! It's not starboard, it's not port, it's a port and brandy with a dash of cinnamon for the ladies.
Did I say it wasn't drivel? I was taken in by first appearances.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments