The perfect Tory would be:
- As competent as George Osborne
- As Eurosceptic as Kenneth Clarke
- As relevant as Norman Tebbit
- As normal as John Redwood
- As experienced as David Cameron
- As intellectually brilliant as Francis Maude
- As close to export industries as Stuart Wheeler
- As credible with the City as George Osborne
- As committed to public service as William Hague
- Or Alan Duncan, come to think of it
- As much a countryman as Michael Portillo
- As good a big-city mayor as Boris Johnson
- Or Eric Pickles, come to think of it
- As libertarian as Michael Howard
- As sound on foreign affairs as Bernard Jenkin
- As anti-racist as Patrick Mercer
- As resistant to state fear-mongering as Patrick Mercer
- As resistant to state fear-mongering as Andrew Pelling
- As tough on the real-estate lobby as Philip Hammond
- As useful as Philip Hammond
- As noteworthy as Chris Grayling
- Or Caroline Spelman
- Or that other one – you know
- Yeah, Ms Thingy
- Or Mr Who? No idea, me
- I know. As accountable as Simon Milton
- As honest as Anthony Browne
- And as handsome as William Hague!
There are some Conservatives who are not included in this joke. They are left as an exercise for the reader.
Mercer: “I came across a LOT of ethnic minority soldiers who were idle and useless, but who used racism as cover for their misdemeanours”, later he told BBC Radio 4’s PM programme that in his 25-year military career he had only TWICE come across soldiers claiming racism when disciplined for poor performance.
Sounds somewhat racist to me!
Lord Taylor, was right Mercer’s comments were “insensitive” especially so to the plight of the black and ethnic minority soldiers suffering racism in the British Army.
Mercer did not seem to me to be opposed to the unfair treatment of people who belong to other racial groups.
I suspect that may have been the point. Either that, or Alex is claiming that George Osborne is competent and credible with the City.