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Godwin’s Law and Labour arrogance

Yesterday we learned that former Labour minister Alan Milburn is probably going to be announced later this week as the government’s social mobility czar. I have two problems with this. Firstly I wish we could just have news, not announcements of things that are going to be announced at a later date. Secondly I hate the term ‘czar’ used in this context. That’s another thing I can blame Tony Blair for.

However I don’t have a problem with Alan Milburn advising the coalition on how to achieve its objectives. After all, he has some experience and knowledge in this area, even if his report for the Labour government was dumped as soon as it was produced. It was Tony Blair who decided to have a GOAT (Government of all the talents). Goodness jnows he needed to separate them from some of his sheep. Milburn has proved in the part to be an early adopter, initially to Blairism. Why should he not join Hutton and Field in attempting to make this government the best it can possibly be for the nation?

New Tribal Labour has turned upon Milburn with a visceral hatred. Did we expect anything better from them in the current situation? However the howls emanating from John Lord Prescott have invoked Godwin’s Law in the opening statement. ‘Collaborator’ screams Prescott at Alan Milburn. Now whilst the verb ‘collaborating’ is often used for an academic or similar project, the noun ‘collaborator’ has a far more sinister meaning, with overtones of those who worked with the Axis powers in World War Two.

I was surprised for a number of reasons to see the comments of Tory blogger Iain Dale on this subject. He  paraphrases the famous words of Martin Niemoller, who spoke out against the political apathy that allowed the Nazis to commit murder and genocide against anyone who stood in their way. Iain tries to pretend that his comments are in jest, but I feel a little affronted about such words about a truly horrendous world event being trivialised in this manner.

Now I think again about that word ‘collaborator’. A collaborator is generally one who cooperates with enemy forces occupying one’s country. Are Labour so arrogant that they believe that this is their country and that the coalition are occupying forces?

Related posts:

1. A fisking of Labour schmaltz
2. Is Blair a very naughty boy?
3. Pest control – Labour style