Subscribe‘I hope this isn’t a political gimmick’ – Chris Grayling, Shadow Home Secretary
‘We feel very queasy about his decision… to serve under Tory colours’ – Daily Mail
Coming so soon after his comments on The Wire, Chris Grayling, who did much to spoil yesterday’s announcement that General Sir Richard Dannatt is a Tory, is quickly establishing himself as the most gaffe prone member of the shadow cabinet.
But it says something when, writing under the headline ‘Mistaken manoeuvre’, the Daily Mail admits to reaching for the sick bucket.
The former head of the army may have been an effective soldier in his day, but the old warhorse is not cut out for politics. His attacks on the government had been looking increasingly party political for some time and there were claims that Labour was looking to smear Dannatt in return.
Now that General Sir Richard Dannatt has come out as a Tory stooge, there is no need to smear him.
As even the Daily Mail agrees, the army should be above party politics. If General Sir Richard Dannatt wanted to play with the big boys, he should have come clean as soon as he had made his decision. Instead, duplicitous and cowardly, General Sir Richard Dannatt has been negotiating a plumb job in a future Conservative administration while presenting himself as an honest old soldier standing up for his troops.
