F***ing C***s

By the way, before we all get carried away with how Ed Miliband, the great statesman, has heroically defied David Cameron's rush to war, showing his great principles along the way, I think that there might be a little more to the story. It's pretty unusual for a no. 10 spokesman to be quite as blunt as this when briefing the press:

No 10 and the Foreign Office think Ed Miliband is a fucking c**t and a copper-bottomed shit. The French hate him now and he’s got no chance of building an alliance with the US Democratic Party.

What's the cause of this vituperation? I'd have thought that was fairly obvious. The question of what to do about Syria is a bloody awful one. Cameron has been talking to Obama about what to do, and what Britain can do to assist the US, for weeks. The most plausible explanation for no. 10's fury at Miliband is that Cameron kept Miliband well informed of this process, and received assurances that Labour would support, or at least not oppose, any Government motion clearing the way for limited airstrikes on chemical weapons facilities etc.

That's why Cameron recalled Parliament - and doubtless informed Obama that Britain would support the US. Because he had received assurances that Labour would not cause the motion to fall. That's also why Miliband was talking as recently as last night of abstaining from the motion - presumably itself a row-back from previous talk of supporting it.

And then, he changed his mind. At best, this is shabby. At worst it is shabby and weak. Either way, it's clear why no 10 was so enraged.