Peter Rhodes on a TV detective, a formidable resignation letter and exposing Mohammed Fayed – years ago
All new governments lose their shine and all prime ministers become less popular with time. But the General Election was only 12 weeks ago, for heaven's sake, and Keir Starmer's administration is haemorrhaging support, culminating with Rosie Duffield MP's resignation over gift-hypocrisy and “cruel and unnecessary policies.” I find myself reminded of the old joke about a failed marriage: “Things were fine at first. But as we were coming down the church steps . . .”
Duffield's resignation letter was a corker. As a rule when politicians step down, they express their unbounded admiration of their leader, who responds with such a paean of praise for the departing member that you wonder a) why the quitter is quitting and b)why on earth the leader is letting them go.
No such fudge with the Duffield death-note. Every line drips with venom, shame and disgust, ending: “Why are you not showing even the slightest bit of embarrassment or remorse.” It may not be the Gettysburg Address but it deserves a place in history as a reminder of that key moment when the territory occupied for 14 years by Labour turned out to be not the moral high ground but a mountain of freebies.
