Article in Diplomat Magazine- March 2009
March 2009
As this article appears the leaders of the G20 nations will be beginning to assemble in London for their most important summit ever. The meeting itself will last just a few hours but, to paraphrase Churchill, never in the field of economic turmoil has so much rested on so few – and so little time! For the build up to the summit has been one of ever heightening expectations, and least until the moment that I write this in the middle of March.
There is no doubt that Gordon Brown, as host, will seize this as the best opportunity yet to achieve international cohesion in tackling the most turbulent global financial crisis ever. And President Barack Obama, whose attendance will also mark his first visit to London, and indeed to Europe, obviously sees this as an opportunity to demonstrate not only that there is a new leadership and totally new policies in the White House – but new leadership for the world into the bargain. That Brown as host and Obama as principal guest should dominate the proceedings is not guaranteed to produce the best from an increasingly ambitious President Sarkozy and an increasingly sceptical Angela Merkel. We can only hope that egos can be sufficiently controlled and subdued for more than a bland communiqué endorsing motherhood and apple pie being produced. We must also remember that the communiqué that is heralded by fanfares one day is often rubbished by journalistic and political raspberries the next. But let it not be so this time for too much is at stake namely the best possible opportunity of laying the basis for a new financial stability which, at the very best, will be fragile and need constant nurturing.
If the G20 is reckoned a success, not only on the day but on the days immediately after, and if Gordon Brown is credited by his fellow leaders with the major contribution to that success, it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that he will decide that this gives him the best opportunity for a new, and more personal mandate. And so we could just possibly be plunged into a General Election, either to coincide with the European and Local government elections on June 4th or before that date. It certainly wouldn’t be after. Don’t get me wrong. I am not forecasting an election. I do not think one will happen before May/June 2010 but the beginning of April does potentially offer an opportunity.
Of course the time between my writing this in mid March and the beginning of April measures two whole weeks and even when politics moves at a slower pace and the economic climate is far different from what it is today Harold Wilson famously said that ‘a week is a long time in politics’ and these are far more uncertain times. That famous remark was made over 40 years ago. As I mentioned before in this column, I have been in the House now since 1970 and I really have never experienced anything like current events. There is a curious juxtaposition between what is happening in the world at large and what is happening in Parliament. We had the thinnest Queen’s Speech for generations in December. Day after day the House is either rising early or despatching its business on time. Again much of that business has little relevance to the issue that dominates every conversation both at Westminster and in the constituency. If ever as a Member I felt sidelined it is now. But yet Parliament remains not only the forum but the safety valve of the nation: the only place where those who truly represent the people can have a voice. Parliament today almost merits the inversion of Baldwin’s famous remark when he said that the press had power without responsibility – the prerogative of the harlot thoughout the ages. I often feel today that we have responsibility without power – the prerogative of the Eunuch! And yet there are moments when Parliament truly does seem both to lead and to reflect national feelings and aspirations. Two such moments occurred recently – at the end of February when the House expressed its sorrow at the sad death of David Cameron’s young son and on March 9th when members of all parties condemmed the murders in Northern Ireland and pleged their utter determination not to allow those despicable acts to derail the peace process. I hark back to a theme on which I have touched on several times in recent months. If only the sympathy or the sentiments which united party leaders on those two sombre occasions could bring them closer together as we tackle the unprecedented problems that surround us. Nothing, more than anything else, would help to bring such a situation about. The Prime Minister should acknowledge that not everything he has done over the last twelve years has been right or well judged. We on the Conservative benches should acknowledge that the seeds of Britain’s particular problems during the downturn were not all sewn during Labour’s period in power. It was we who demutualised building societies. It was we who insisted that all council houses, including those built for the aged should be sold at a discount and swell the whole housing market thereafter. And we have very often allowed our understandable antagonism towards red tape to be portrayed as a total opposition to all regulatory regimes. And so, as the season of Lent draws to a close perhaps a mild adaptation of a little sackcloth and ashes on both sides of the House.
