Reader, it pains me to write this – especially as it means I’m partially agreeing with Iain Dale – but it needs saying. This is what Ed Davey, our shadow foreign secretary said yesterday in his speech to conference:
… it’s time for tea with the Taleban – and tea with the multitude of local tribal Afghan insurgent leaders.
When I first saw it reported that Ed had called for “tea with the Taleban”, I assumed it was a paraphrase ad absurdum – a bit like David Cameron’s ‘hug a hoodie’, a phrase he never actually uttered. But, no, I’m afraid those were Ed’s actual words.
The problem is not the policy. In fact, Ed explains the Lib Dems’ policy rather well earlier in the same speech:
… now, at last, there appears in the White House to be at least a recognition that the strategy in Afghanistan must change. We have a US President, a US Secretary of State in Hillary Clinton and a US Commander in General McChrystal who all recognise that military might alone cannot win the stable Afghanistan that is needed to prevent Al-Qaeda’s return.
I believe Britain must engage with and help shape this new emerging US strategy. We need not so much a military surge, but a political surge. A political surge for peace. And that means reconciliation. Reconciliation of former enemies. Talking to the Taleban – and the many other Afghan insurgents who aren’t really Taleban. Taking risks. Just as all British political parties took risks, when we backed talks with the IRA.
But the phrase “tea with the Taleban” is just too twee, too trite, for a Lib Dem shadow foreign secretary to utter in a speech. It’s an open invitation for opponents to mock what is otherwise a perfectly sensible strategy for resolving an intractable problem. Can we all just pretend, Ed included, that he never said it, please.
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9 Comments
So what if the naughty old Taliban murder the odd girly on her way to school? Never mind, let’s just sit down and have a nice cuppa with them and a good old chinwag.
So did the IRA, Irgun, Umkhonto we Sizwe and people closely associated with those organisations have subsequently acheived high ministerial office. And after at least some “jaw-jaw” was involved.
Maybe I was just being very cynical when I said the real difference between “most wanted terrorist ” and national leader is 35 years.
Maybe time for the party to get a new Shadow Foreign Secretary. Ed has hardly shined in the role. Given the Lisbon Treaty will be to the fore in coming months, time for Charles Kennedy’s return and rehabilitation. The dream team for the general election – Clegg, Cable, and Kennedy – or would that be a nightmare.
Dear me, this conference really has been a car crash, hasn’t it? The only two incidents I’ve heard mentioned at all so far (when I haven’t been specifically looking for it) have been the absurd air-brushing thing and now this.
And it will no doubt appear on his opponents’ leaflets at the next election.
Soundbites often divide people’s opinion – but this is at least memorable.
Surely no-one thinks we are going to win a war of attrition against the Taleban? If that id the case, we either pull out now or we start talking. If we can talk to the IRA and deal with a country that gave state amnesty and then medals to terrorists/freedom fighters, then we can talk to the Taleban.
to compare the IRA with the Taleban is ludicrous. Its like comparing Vladimir Putin with Hitler. The former isnt very nice, but he hardly wishes dead everyone who disagrees with him.
“But the phrase “tea with the Taleban” is just too twee…. Can we all just pretend, Ed included, that he never said it, please.”
How, exactly does this blog entry help here?
I thought this was a party of intelligent politics. Afghanistan isn’t going to be a pleasant place to be until people start talking to each other. In Afghanistan, apparently, that’s usually done over tea. How’s hard is it to follow that argument?
Not hard at all – if it gets a hearing. But the language Ed chose has allowed the idea of talking to the more moderate elements of the Taleban to be easily mocked/dismissed. It’s not just about being right in politics; it’s knowing how to express it. Ed failed on this occasion.