58 Days Later
Gordon Brown is now determined to build a consensus on the required length of the extension to the current 28 day limit.
That attitude conveniently overlooks the fact that the government has not made a convincing case for an extension of any sort. Lord West accidentally pointed this out yesterday. One instant audience with the Prime Minister later, he was very quickly back-pedalling.
Lord West isn’t a professional politician. He wasn’t to know that government ministers are not supposed to highlight the intellectual bankruptcy of the government’s position. He’ll learn, I suppose.
The other day, I listened to the Home Secretary attempting to make the case for an extension. It was the ridiculous hypothetical situations she grasped at which really gave the game away. I would have attempted to take on her arguments but I couldn’t find any arguments to speak of to challenge.
The one argument the government can’t make in public is the one which is really pushing this on. Gordon Brown needs to be seen to be doing something. The status quo is not an option.
It doesn’t seem like a very good reason to me.