RIP Charles Kennedy. The last of the decent politicans.
The last time I saw Charles Kennedy on TV, he was on Question Time with Ian Hislop and he was clearly as pissed as a fart. He was ambling through the questions and forgot was he was saying half way through answering. And he still managed to be a genuine, caring and astute politician.
The BBC came under fire for allowing Charles Kennedy to appear in that state. However, I think the BBC has an affection for the former leader of the Liberal Democrats. You only had to follow the news when the story broke to see there was genuine sadness. And that carried on through this week's BBC Question Time in Plymouth when David Dimbleby opened with a tribute to Kennedy and took a question about him. Then Have I Got News For You paid tribute to him by reminding us of this:
Kennedy worked in a stuffy establishment that probably looked down on him because of his thick Scottish accent and he went to a comprehensive school. And unlike most politicians, he got actual political training while at Glasgow University, as he studied Politics and Philosophy (I don't know what happened to the Economics part of it, but I'm guessing like me, he doesn't like maths).
His drinking problem destroyed his career as Lib Dem leader, having succeeded well loved Paddy Ashdown and proceeded by Menzies Campbell. However, I hope this isn't what he's remembered for; he was strongly opposed the Iraq War, the Liberal-Tory coalition and Scottish independence. I guess losing his Ross, Skye and Lochaber seat in this year's election was too much for him.
Much like Tony Benn, Charles Kennedy was a real politician with morals, fight, pragmatism and a desire to do the right thing. He'll be missed.
First published 06/06/2015
The BBC came under fire for allowing Charles Kennedy to appear in that state. However, I think the BBC has an affection for the former leader of the Liberal Democrats. You only had to follow the news when the story broke to see there was genuine sadness. And that carried on through this week's BBC Question Time in Plymouth when David Dimbleby opened with a tribute to Kennedy and took a question about him. Then Have I Got News For You paid tribute to him by reminding us of this:
This is probably why Ian Hislop seemed forgiving of Kennedy during that Question Time episode.
Kennedy worked in a stuffy establishment that probably looked down on him because of his thick Scottish accent and he went to a comprehensive school. And unlike most politicians, he got actual political training while at Glasgow University, as he studied Politics and Philosophy (I don't know what happened to the Economics part of it, but I'm guessing like me, he doesn't like maths).
His drinking problem destroyed his career as Lib Dem leader, having succeeded well loved Paddy Ashdown and proceeded by Menzies Campbell. However, I hope this isn't what he's remembered for; he was strongly opposed the Iraq War, the Liberal-Tory coalition and Scottish independence. I guess losing his Ross, Skye and Lochaber seat in this year's election was too much for him.
Much like Tony Benn, Charles Kennedy was a real politician with morals, fight, pragmatism and a desire to do the right thing. He'll be missed.
First published 06/06/2015
Comments
Post a Comment