A reminder from Stephen Pollard at the JC of the qualities that so amply justify Ed Miliband’s new appointment as Foreign Secretary:
Miliband’s time as Labour leader coincided with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad using Sarin gas to butcher 1,400 people – thus crossing the supposed “red line” which President Obama had set against the use of chemical weapons. In response, Obama planned a military strike with the UK and France.
The then PM, David Cameron, promised that the Commons would be able to vote on such operations – and Miliband, in the single most shameful decision taken by any mainstream politician of my lifetime, whipped Labour MPs to oppose action against Assad’s chemical weapons. With some Conservative and Lib Dem MPs also voting against, the motion was defeated and action was vetoed. That in turn led Obama to take fright, lest he suffer a similar fate in Congress.
A clear message was sent to Assad that he was free to carry on using chemical weapons, which he did. A similar message of Western pusillanimity was also heard by Vladimir Putin, who invaded the Crimea the following year.
That vote alone should have been enough to destroy Miliband forever. But not only has he survived that, he has been untouched by another catastrophic decision. As Labour leader, Miliband changed the rules by which his successor would be elected – opening up the contest to non-members on payment of £3. That led to a landslide victory for Jeremy Corbyn, which not only plunged Labour into a cesspit of Jew hate but unleashed even more via Corbyn’s supporters on social media and the wider world. Miliband is thus also responsible for another of the most disastrously consequential decisions of recent years….
Not to mention his way with a bacon sandwich…
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