My first encounter with Phil Taylor was back when I joined the Lib Dems for the very first time, in 1995. Then known as Phil Jones, Phil’s brass neck was legendary. Having resigned as Chair of LDYS, he restood despite by that point having secretly joined the Labour Party. If elected, his plan was apparently to then defect rather publicly, causing the Lib Dems maximum embarrassment at a sensitive time. I’m delighted to say he got rather thrashed.
I recount all this because Phil has recently found himself the target of Paul “Guido” Delaire-Staines’ attentions. Allegedly, Phil has been campaigning for Peter Hain’s deputy leadership candidacy while at work, something which is clearly in breach of the ministerial code. To read Delaire-Staines’ blog, you would think he was bang to rights (although it practice this rarely turns out to be the case, just ask fellow SpAd Paul “The Thinker” Richards.
As you may have guessed from my first paragraph, I don’t particularly view Phil Taylor as a ‘fellow traveller’. If Phil Taylor has been working on Hain’s campaign while at work, he has clearly been in breach of the code. But before we rush too quickly to condemn his actions and call for his head, imagine if his misdemeanor had been to blog while at work, rather than run a deputy leadership campaign. Personally, I can’t see a fundamental difference – both are forms of campaigning after all – yet I don’t see Guido up in arms about every doctor, firefighter and policeman who blogs while on duty. It smacks of the usual anti-politics exceptionalism that I’ve come to expect from a lot of the blogosphere.
Also, it emerges that Delaire-Staines was apparently a layabout student slacker who failed to complete his degree while living at the taxpayers’ expense (I particularly love the bit about the Conservative Students booking the room they held their sit in at). Let he who is without sin…?
Finally, one has to ask the question: who benefits from all this? It should be pointed out that the Labour deputy leadership is turning out to be one of the most complete wastes of time any political party has ever embarked upon (the fact that Phil Taylor is actively undermining his party by colluding in it might conceivably count as a public service). They seem intent on tearing themselves apart over it, despite the fact that it won’t actually resolve anything. Intentionally or not, Guido is helping the other deputy leadership camps from all this so he ought to tread carefully. I’ve already noted his collusion with the persons unnamed in the Labour Party who sought to undermine Colin Challen with a view to getting Ed “no all women shortlist can touch me” Balls his seat. And of course he is great pals with Alex “Recess Monkey” Hilton, who is a Hilary Bennite. For all his claims of anti-establishment, he runs the risk of becoming the Labour establishment’s bitch. This is the problem with being so utterly cynical – sometimes you don’t notice when you’re being played.
Don’t you think it’s a good, rather than shameful or lamentable, thing if politicians and their cronies know that their actions are under constant scrutiny?
Also, the whole “But he did it first!” argument re wasting taxpayer money rings a bit too much of Kevin and Perry-style whinging. I financed my university education by winning (private) scholarships and out of my own pocket (I worked several thankless jobs), but skipped a lot of classes. I ‘wasted’ scholarship money that perhaps other students may have maximised, not to mention my own. But it doesn’t mean I didn’t learn anything from it, or that I wish I’d done anything differently. I can only imagine my spawn trying to pull the old “So you’re a hypocrite!” routine when I tell them it would be a shame to skip classes (or drink excessively, or hang out with violent criminals, or drive 1000 miles round-trip for a weekend when I was meant to be at a friend’s in town, or any of the other things I did as a student which I would not advocate).
Jackie,
I didn’t call it shameful or lamentable, all I asked for was a degree of perspective. I can assure you that I don’t go along with the Tim Ireland circle jerk demanding Guido’s head. I just happen to think that said head gets a little inflated at times.
Guido is being unusually shy on the facts in this matter. We don’t know, for example, whether Taylor was attending the odd meeting in his lunch hour, or firing off the odd two minute email (which may be in breach but really isn’t worth getting upset about), or comprehensively campaigning while on the payroll (which is clearly unacceptable).
As for my ‘he did it first’ whinging (otherwise known as quoting from the Bible :)), it isn’t me who is exercised about hypocrisy, it’s Guido. And it isn’t me who gets all hot and bothered about taxpayers money, it’s you AND Guido.
Personally, I just find the story funny and think it deserves wider airing.