Monday 31 May 2010

David Laws why now?

I am not sure what to think about the David Laws story. I suppose that not being Gay I have no idea of his dilemma.He  claims he didn't want his friends and family to find out about his sexuality. I accept his claim. Though we have come along way over the years, and I myself have long abandoned any prejudices against Gay and Lesbian people which in my youth I might have expressed out of ignorance. This has been reflected over the years in the wider society, and we can look to the referee Nigel Owens whose sexuality no longer seems tobe an issue, and where most people’s attitude seems to be to say, “So what”.


However I doubt very much that David Laws sexuality was much of a secret in the “Westminster Village” and the fact that his partner James Laundie had formally worked as a senior Liberal Democrat researcher  for Paddy Ashdown & Charkes Kennedy and was very much in the bubble

Which leaves me to ask the questions.

  • Why didn’t the Telegraph expose David Laws financial position when it exposed so many others last year?

  • If they were not aware of this who leaked the story? Could it have been a Liberal Democrat, who was embarrassed by the party being linked to savage cuts via Laws’ position at the Treasury and hoped that after a reshuffle Lib-Dem ministers were in cabinet jobs which were more popular with the public.

  •  Why has the right wing press backed Laws so much? Could it be that this “economic" Liberal was very much to the liking”? I doubt that they have found a new enthusiasm for privacy and Gay rights.

  •  If David Laws was so concerned about his privacy why didn’t he simply not make the claim? After all £40,000 over 8 years can’t be all that much for him. 
Perhaps in time the revelation about his sexuality will lead David Laws to leave a happier life, and I am sure that he will be surprised about the reaction of his friends and family. Who will probably say something on the line “Oh come of it Dave, of course we knew.”

My objection to David Laws is that he is an "economic" Liberal who was prepared to make savage cuts on the poor of this country but I suspect his successor will be no different.

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