Michael Howard stakes out a radical challenge to Blair
“Mr Howard is thinking of ways within the parliamentary rules of presenting Mr Blair with some oysters at Prime Minister’s questions tomorrow (Wednesday). “The thing that disturbs me,” he said, “is that the in-fighting that is taking place at the highest levels of the Labour Party and the extent to which John Prescott has acknowledged that people are positioning themselves for what might happen after that, means that the interests of the country are coming a poor second.” The Tories sent Mr Howard’s battle bus to Gibraltar with the message “Putting Britain First”.
On Thursday, the Tory leader will go to Tony Blair’s back yard for a speech over lunch in Sedgefield. He could not say whether oysters will be on the menu.”
Right. So – we’re up to our necks in Iraq with the shit level rising fast, the oil price is going through the roof, the government is discredited in every way possible, the housing shortage, the asylum obsession aargh! – and the best line the opposition have is a braying public schoolboy stunt like this. Jesus. This just gets on my nerves. I can already see Howard smugging around the chamber. Aren’t I just a wild and crazy guy! Why not go for the John Prescott route to popularity and smack a right cross in his chops as he leans over the dispatch box – it’s about as intelligent and relevant to our real national problems, and it would be much more expressive.