Tough stuff

Crystal ball gazing is such fun, especially now that it has revealed so much to gaze at in this quiet period following the ‘end of history.’ I was tickled to read a story on the click bait, provided by the Daily Telegraph that a newish runner in the race to replace Starmer is our Mr. Tough Guy Defence Secretary, John Healey. I first met John in 1992 when we were both standing for unwinnable parliamentary seats—he in Ryedale and me in Beverley. John was an amiable colleague and rather uncontentious. He went on to win the Wentworth seat in 1997. His career has benefited from his overall capacity for being a ‘reliable chap’ about whom I doubt there has ever been a critical (or any) headline. He has melded into his role at the MoD without a hitch, and I think like so many Labour MPs who have taken charge of defence he has sought to bend over backwards to demonstrate that Labour is truly patriotic. This is not to question his sincerity, but merely to say that the pacifist streak in Labour (see my last blog) will always be contained. I’ll fight, fight and fight again as John (no great orator) might wish to say. Curiously another name in the hat to replace Starmer is a junior minister in the MoD, Al Carns MP who was only elected in 2024. He was a Colonel and so can rightly wear a chestful of medals. But, according to the Torygraph some Labour MPs have never heard of him. That of course could be his surprise manoeuvre, probably learnt from Sun Tzu. It amused me today to read in the Yorkshire Post an article by Col. Patrick Mercer (Rtd) MP (Rtd) that Carns might be the right choice. Perhaps it is no longer enough to have risen through the ranks to become a mere top prosecutor; now a career in the army stands you in good stead—both Clement Attlee and Denis Healey were commissioned to name but two.* Back in my time in parliament any former service people were generally ’other ranks’ and there were so few of us I even got an honourable mention once, although I can’t remember where. So it wouldn’t do John Healey’s chances any harm if he signed up, donned the camouflage gear and marched around with the Royal G4S Regiment (or SERCO or BAE Systems, the people who eat up so much of the MoD budget).  How does it go? We’ll fight them in the remote drone control rooms, we’ll fight them  . . .

*Personally, I think a former RAF Squadron Leader should be chosen. In the RAF they take better care of their gear. It costs so much.