They just can't help themselves can they?
Whilst Labour's campaign lurches from side to side and the Liberal Democrats lurk like the gawkish kid at the back that no-one really likes, waving his hand in the air in a vain attempt to answer his teacher's question, the Tories implode magnificently in a violent flash of accusation and recrimination.
Now Howard Flight is a dickhead.
In fact, Howard Flight is a nasty, rude, arrogant dickhead. I have had the 'joy' of working with him at Westminster from time to time and he reflects perfectly the dark, sinister underbelly of the Conservative Party that no veil of respectability and compassion can ever fully cover. Needless to say, today's revelation fills me with joy unrestrained. It's serious stuff too - this was not some two-bit flash in the pan candidate talking, nor is it a wing-nut councillor in some distant province. It was a man who facilitated the establishment of the James Review on which Tory policy is based, it was a man who helped to conceive, mould and package that policy and it was a man more than au fait with the ways of economics and finance. His words were not accidental. He wasn't drunk. He wasn't confused about his subject. How can this be any other than the true representation of the Conservative mindset? Of course, Flight claims that his words have been 'spun' by Labour, but how do you spin a transcript? It's a recording, not hearsay.
Whilst Michael Howard is right to sack him, to withdraw the whip and to order him to stand down strikes me as curious however. It reeks of desperation to me - he's using a sledge-hammer to crack a walnut and it could have unwelcome repurcussions the next time one of his team goes inadvertently off-message. Would he have done the same to Oliver Letwin in 2001? His faux-pas was similarly damaging to the Tory election, derailing the party's attempt to look in any way credible over economic policy.
In any case, it will be interesting to see what effect, if any, it has on the polls, not least as it has driven home the message that Labour has been struggling to project for the last two weeks and has ramped the relative differences regarding the parties' plans for the economy back to the top of the news agenda. Speaking with Labour friends last night, there is a great deal of concern in the camp regarding the Party's performance up to now.
I think we all have a smile on our faces today.
