Hapless Stephen Doughty was given the hospital pass of defending the PM over the ex-US ambassador’s appointment
J
ust what has Stephen Doughty done to upset Keir Starmer? Are there no limits to the prime minister’s contempt and hatred? Not that Steve is a total nobody. He’s not a run-of-the-mill backbencher. But he has risen as high as he is likely to go as a junior minister in the Foreign Office. Probably higher than Steve ever expected. Certainly higher than his mates expected. Put simply, Steve is a dependable plodder. Someone who can be trusted to do as he is told. To not ask questions. And yet for Keir he is just collateral damage. Expendable.
Not that this is how it will have been put to Steve. Rather, the prime minister’s outriders will have taken him to one side. A word in your ear. We’ve got a top-secret mission for you. Get this right and we can win the war. The future of the country is in your hands. The generals probably said much the same to the infantrymen on the morning of the Somme offensive. Though Steve would die many times over. The walking dead.
On Thursday it was Doughty who was sent out to fend off the hospital pass of replying for the government on behalf of an urgent question on the appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador. And even though Steve got to break the news that Mandy had just been sacked, he still got a thorough kicking from opposition MPs. The bruises are still visible.
