David Davis: he may strike a chord

Matthew Parris writing in the Times today generally makes a lot of sense and his article about David Davis is no exception. He is one of the few in the Westminster Village who is finally beginning to see what many of the others have ignored.

The problem with the "Village" is it is very inward looking and closed to "outsiders" very like a typical remote rural village. It does not like behaviour that does not follow protocol and custom and while, a little eccentricity is expected, major deviations are frowned upon and the "deviant" is quickly ostracised for daring to step outside the norm.

The trouble with this mentality is that when something different does happen, like say television arriving in a remote area, it is regarded with great suspicion and decried as being "dangerous" and a threat to the normal expected behavior, whilst, outside of the village it is looked upon as the more normal way of life.

So when an MP decides that Principles are more important to him than his career and money, he is immediately looked on as crank, derided as being egotistical etc etc. You only have to look at the vapid gushings of Nick Robinson for an example of what I mean.

Yet outside the village most people have been more than impressed to finally see a man, in particular an MP stand up and say enough is enough we must take action. The number of people from all sides of the fence who have said they would Vote for Davis is extraordinary.

Will all of this, though, help Davis in his mission to expose the stunning lack of respect this Labour Government has for our Liberties, its arrogance in saying it knows best about what is good for us.

At the moment I think that really depends upon how the leaders of the two main political parties react in the coming days to this threat. If David Cameron takes up the challenge and gets right behind Davis,I think this will turn out as good boost to Tory fortunes in the next election, never mind what actions are taken by Labour. If he doesn't do this he will have passed up an opportunity to impress the British voters that he is a more honest, and dare I say it, principled future Leader of this nation.

For Gordon Brown, currently hiding away in his bunker, it is as usual a quandary. If he ignores the challenge then he will again be derided as a "bottler" never willing to take up a fight. If he takes up the challenge then he will undoubtedly be beaten in the by-election, but if he at least fought this on the merits of his case he might earn some sort of respect, which he has lost, with the British Public.

Of course as Matthew Parris says it might all blow over into a damp squib from which David Davis emerges as as a diminished and broken politician. I only hope this is not the case but that he emerges from it with the knowledge that he has helped Britain get rid of this dangerous and dying Government. He will at least know that he has galvanised the public into thinking about what is happening to Britain under Gordon Brown.

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David Davis: he may strike a chord | Matthew Parris - Times Online