The strange case of David Cairns shows how the Brown witch-hunt is being conducted. Word reached Mr Brown’s henchmen that the minister of state at the Scotland Office was having doubts, and he was given an offer they imagined he couldn’t refuse: he would keep his job in the next reshuffle in return for issuing a statement of support. Yet this former Catholic priest said he could not, in conscience, make such a deal. Then came a supplementary offer which perfectly exemplifies Mr Brown’s brutal modus operandi. Mr Cairns could resign, but quietly. If he said anything unpleasant about the Prime Minister, the dogs would be let loose on him.
Even if nothing else in government is functioning, Mr Brown’s team of character assassins is still at large, at full operational strength and widely feared. ‘You have to let them know you can hurt them more than they can hurt you,’ one Cabinet member told me before the recess. ‘You have to say, “If you come after me, I will do X, Y and Z to you.” It’s brutal, but it’s the only way of getting through to him.’ Mr Cairns was obviously not taught about this art of war in the seminary.
Extraordinary.
No comments:
Post a Comment