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Apparently Cameron tried his best to get him not to resign. He's taken the focus off Brown's floundering and desperation to pass the bill and focussed it instead on Cameron's problems holding his party together. I'd imagine it's not something that at his age you are likely to come back from.
Interesting, where did you hear that (about Cameron asking him not to do it)?
The resignation was intended to create coverage, as far as I can tell - it's not a protest against the Conservatives. He wants the byelection so that he can stand on the stump and talk about detention and civil rights to the media - to keep the issue live, effectively. Stepping down as shadow HS was a consequence of that, not an intended result.
Sure yes, but obviously a consequence that he was aware of so that must have been something he was prepared to sacrifice for the publicity. Maybe, he thinks he'll be able to get another cabinet position, or, more interestingly, maybe he thought that he wouldn't have got one anyway.
In general, how likely is the holder of a shadow cabinet position to take up that same position in the real cabinet when his/her party takes power? It's not a given is it?
And yes, it's very likely to be knocked back by the Lords - I think the Parliament Act will have to be invoked to get it through.
But if it's knocked back by the Lords will the government even be able to send it back there? Also, how reasonable is it to use the Parliament Act when the vote was won by such a small amount? On the other hand I think that (new) Labour have proved more willing than any party before them to use the PA so maybe reasonableness isn't a test they will apply. |
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