Friday, June 29, 2007

The complete nonsense about Miliband and Iraq

The spin is that David Miliband was against the Iraq war so we should all be cheering in the streets now that he has been appointed Foreign Secretary.

Today's Guardian puts it this way:

(Miliband) is not publicly associated with the decision to invade Iraq and is said to have been privately sceptical about it.

Oh really? At the time, he may have been safely in a "home" department, approving massive expenditure on civil servants to write his "blog". But his public parliamentary voting record shows that he has been up to his neck in support for the war and in rejecting an investigation.

There is an excellent website called Public Whip. If you put an MP's name and a subject into its search engine, it will tell, quite scientifically, what that MP's record has been on the issue.

For example, a search for David Miliband MP and the Iraq war comes up with the interesting observation that, based on his parliamentary record, D. Miliband was 0.8% against the invasion. Not a lot against the invasion, in other words. The 0.8% is due to him being absent from one vote:

David Miliband MP, South Shields agrees 0.8% (explain...) with the policy, Iraq 2003 - Against the invasion.
HouseDateTimeSubjectAgreement
Commons24 Sep 200221:45Iraq — Weapons of Mass Destruction absent
Commons25 Nov 200221:34Iraq — UN Security Council Resolution 1441 disagree
Commons26 Feb 200318:45Iraq — The Case for War — As yet unproven disagree
Commons26 Feb 200319:13Iraq — The Case for War disagree
Commons18 Mar 200321:15Iraq — Declaration of War — Case not yet established disagree
Commons18 Mar 200322:00Iraq — Declaration of War disagree

On the subject of whether a Iraq investigation is necessary, D.Miliband is only 6.3% in agreement. The 6.3% is due to him being absent from five votes on the issue:

David Miliband MP, South Shields agrees 6.3% (explain...) with the policy, Iraq Investigation - Necessary.
HouseDateTimeSubjectAgreement
Commons4 Jun 200316:31Iraq — Weapons of Mass Destruction Inquiry disagree
Commons16 Jul 200315:53Iraq — Foreign Affairs Committee Report disagree
Commons10 Sep 200318:44Iraq — Role of the United Nations disagree
Commons22 Oct 200318:40Iraq — Judicial Inquiry — Setting up absent
Commons22 Oct 200318:59Iraq — Judicial Inquiry — Not necessary absent
Commons13 Jan 200415:42Iraq — National Audit Office Report on Operation Telic disagree
Commons9 Mar 200417:19Iraq — Attorney-General's Advice disagree
Commons17 May 200418:45Iraq — Security Situation absent





Commons31 Oct 200618:53Iraq — Select committee inquiry — to be set up disagree
Commons31 Oct 200618:53Iraq — Select committee inquiry — rejected disagree
Commons11 Jun 200719:45Opposition Day — Iraq Inquiry absent
Commons11 Jun 200719:45Opposition Day — Iraq Inquiry absent

3 comments:

  1. Of course, he would say that wouldn't he. Sadly, it may well be true that he was uneasy about Iraq and Lebanon, unfortunately it only goes to demonstrate to me that he doesn't have, shall we say the physical equipment, to do an effective job as Foreign Secretary........er........think you are wrong, but don't want to upset you so will keep me trap shut!

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  2. The first time I met David Miliband, he was Schools Minister and I was a supply teacher. He asked what I did, I told him, and I then added (truthfully, at the time) that the worst school in which I had ever worked was in his constituency, so what was he going to do about it?

    I then heard him speak soon afterwards, when he described the disparity within schools (often as great as, or even greater than, that between them) as "which teacher you are given"!

    His pitch for Labour Leader ended up being published in the Daily Telegraph for a laugh, after the Guardian refused to print it because it was so bad.

    And if he really had doubts about Iraq or Lebanon, then he should have resigned, and deserves nothing but scorn and contempt for his failure to do so.

    So all the little Millies out there, please get off the bandwagon of those who insist that a Prime Minister must have an Oxford degree or (if needs must) no degree at all, the basis for the BBC's campaign for Miliband, astonishingly still going on.

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  3. Are you not getting many hits David - since you double post your blog postings as comments here?

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