Rob Wilson's Westminster Diary, October 29, 2009

Rob Wilson MP • Published 29 Oct 2009 09:00 0 Comments

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THE Prime Minister and the Government grow weaker by the day.

The Prime Minister has little authority, either in the House of Commons or the Parliamentary Labour Party, as demonstrated by the humiliating u-turn on the cuts to the Territorial Army.

The whole episode shows what a shambles this Government now is and, unfortunately for the country, it will continue right up to election day.

The Government announcement that there were to be cuts of £20m in the TA budget, affecting things like training, went down like a lead balloon.

The Government obviously hadn't noticed we are fighting a difficult and bloody war in which the TA are making a valuable contribution - not least 7Rifles at Brock Barracks in Reading!

Rather than row back quickly, we had the extremely painful process of the Prime Minister trying to tough it out. When that failed he gave back £2.5m of the £20m hoping it would diffuse the anger. Finally, faced by a full-scale Labour backbench rebellion, supporting a Conservative motion on the floor of the House, he made the embarrassing U-turn that no strong Prime Minister would ever make.

The episode highlights the huge differences between Prime Ministers. Blair and Thatcher were never liked by the opposition of their day, but they were respected (although I hesitate to compare a great Prime Minister like Thatcher with Blair).

Brown isn't respected by his own backbenchers because he is a ditherer, a man who can't communicate with the public and looks uncomfortable. Cameron runs rings around him in the Commons and this adds to the depression on the Labour benches. Although they can take comfort from the fact that Nick Clegg is hopeless and Brown usually demolishes him at Prime Ministers Questions - but this may say more about the Liberal leader than the Prime Minister.

To be led by such a weak, drifting, dithering Government when such big decisions need to be taken on the economy, the war in Afghanistan, on energy to name a few, is a huge cause for concern. This Government has all but died on its feet, ministers are resigned to defeat in private, everybody is looking to the next Government to provide some real leadership.

The vigour and vitality of the country is being crushed week by week; the country needs to know what direction it is taking and very soon.

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