webofevil | David Davies

It’s hard to escape the news today that Shadow Home Sec David Davis is throwing down a big fake gauntlet by resigning and recontesting a perfectly safe Tory seat. I’d love to see the government call this for the stunt it is and not run a candidate against him. His hollow victory would help to erode the idea that his move was for the good of the nation rather than specifically for the greater glory of David Davis. They won’t do that, of course. Brown, with the keen political instincts he has demonstrated over the past year, has arbitrarily chosen to make this his big battleground and he has shown that he is willing to sacrifice anything—principle, conscience, other legislation—to win. Meanwhile, ever more surreally, the Tories now get to paint themselves not only as champions of the poor but as defenders of the liberties of suspected terrorists. How did we get here, exactly?