How strange is this? Gordon Brown has asked Paddy Ashdown to be his Northern Ireland secretary. Why? This is supposed to be a strong government. Does Gordon really believe that none of his own party are up to the job? Added to the fact that they couldn't find someone to stand against Gordon you really have to start wondering what the party is made up of.
It's not as if Paddy has ever given any indication of supporting Gordon. Certainly Paddy doesn't support Labour, otherwise he would be a member of the Labour party, not the Lib Dem. Maybe Browns next job offer will be to Cameron, after all, in an odd way, their views are probably more alike.
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An alternative reading might be that Brown is able to look beyond petty partisan divisions and be bold enough to go with a conviction of who he thought would be the 'right person' for a very tricky job. Certainly someone like Ashdown comes with a pedigree that highly recommends him to the role. Maybe the Northern Ireland situation is important enough that we forget for a second party versus party point scoring and actually try to the best we can?
Who knows. I suspect that nothing in politics is as simple as any interpretation we come up with.
That said I'd personally welcome anything in politics that broke down the entrenched party versus party ridiculousness and returned to primary concepts of working for the public good ahead of all else.
But I doubt we'll see the day anytime soon, what with a system drenched in its history of machismo conflict based functioning. Little room for co-operation. Too much boys playground antics.
I believe that Paddy Ashdown would be fantastic at the job. Unfortunately I don't think that Brown scores well on either of the two personality traits you mention in your first sentence. I notice you didn't defend the Labour party and name a depth of politicians that indicate strength!
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