PYGMIES AND HEROES...

After yesterday`s D-Day ceremonies in Normandy, Gordon Brown returns to face the prospect of a hammering in the European Parliament elections and a fractious meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party. On a human level it is just about possible to have some sympathy with anyone who seems as beleagured as our Prime Minister. But there are things about him which offend.

First, of course, he was not even elected by his party, let alone by the country at large and when he had the chance to have a general election to provide some legitimacy to his premiership....he bottled out. I suppose he assumed he would lose and he was doubtless correct in that assumption, but ever since he has lacked any real legitimacy to lead the country at home or abroad.

Then there was the refusal to honour the Labour manifesto pledge to hold a referendum on the EU Constitution, which Brown declined to honour, again because he assumed there would be a `No` vote and he would be in trouble with his playmates on the continent. Both of these acts of chickening out of things are, indeed, reminiscent of the kind of playground antics we got up to at school - ball taken away if you won`t let me win and all that.

But I still think the most unforgiveable thing was Brown`s support for Blair in the wholly indefensible decision to go to war in Iraq and follow the lead of George Dubya (a smile, a chad and a second term.) We lost too many of our armed forces fighting that illegal conflict and even today we are engaged too heavily in Afghanistan, where we have lost close on 200 of our forces and, in the absence of any real support from our EU neighbours, we seem likely to lose even more in support of the Americans in this vacuous, illusive, depressing adventure.

In the last few days, we have seen the reality of Labour`s priorities, which have been wholly concerned with the kind of internal squabbles that resemble ferrets in a sack. Even yesterday when the attention of a grateful nation was focussed on the D-Day commemorations, the skin-saving, self-serving, desperate reshuffle was still going on and the internal recriminations, backstabbing and backbiting were in full flow.

I just wonder whether, amid all the frantic self-preservation that was going on, any of them really spared a thought for our fighting troops in the heat of battle in that far off land, for they are the real heroes, sent by political pygmies who have run out of any justification to be `in office,` never mind `in power` any longer. It really is time for a change.