Clare Short

Having read this book, I believe that Clare Short is too decent a person to be a leading politician. I believe that her concerns are heartfelt and, in some cases, worthy of a public airing.
My complaint would be that she does appear somewhat naive: the fact that briefings pre the Iraq war were skewed to boost the American and British perspective seems to me, to hardly rate a newsworthy status. Ms Short does, however, touch several times upon an important factor within UK politics which is worthy of discussion namely, the slide into a presidential style of government. I fear that the cabinet style of leadership, which has served this country for so many centuries cannot survive the onslaught of the modern media. Twenty years ago, a cabinet could discuss possible solutions to a perceived problem, even contemplating courses of action that would be considered shocking, were the public to be privy to these ideas. Nowadays, decisions are expected to be instantaneous and any 'thinking outside of the box' is leaked to the media by one side or the other. It therefore becomes inevitable that discussion is between small cliques of like-minded individuals and that cabinet government passes into history.
Clare Short also raises concerns about our first past the post voting system which has given successive Governments hefty majorities within the House of Commons based upon less than fifty per cent of the votes cast. This, to my mind, is the more significant fault because, if the electorate feel that their vote makes no difference, there is a real danger of a reduced turn out and that is when extremists can gain power. Sadly this concern with the electoral system only appears for a few fleeting pages towards the end of the book and is not explored in any detail.
This book was an interesting read, particularly after reading 'The Blair Years' in which Alistair Campbell makes plain his contempt of Ms Short's views. The two tomes give a rounded aspect to Britain's role in the Middle East.… (mais)