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Charles Kennedy buggered.

Not sure what the big deal is. Kennedys on this side of the pond have been drunks for decades.


(ok seriously, that is a bit harsh on the guy.)
 
Supposedly Teddy hisself woke up on a porch with his suitcoat on, but no pants one morning.
 
Beerina said:
Supposedly Teddy hisself woke up on a porch with his suitcoat on, but no pants one morning.
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Teddy is actually known for walking around without his pants on raving drunk on many occasions. Not the least of which while a nephew/cousin (whatever William Kennedy Smith is) was allegedly raping someone.
 
"Buggered"? "Backstabbed"? "Sod"? Are you trying to imply something about his sexuality?

Of course, the Dems over here didn't have any problem making hay out of Bush's problem, even though it was decades ago.
 
asthmatic camel said:
Charles Kennedy, possibly one of Britain's most honest politicians, is being thoroughly backstabbed because he's been genuine enough to admit to having a drink problem. The poor sod. :(
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Sure, he is a nice guy and probably more honest than most politicians. BUT the fact is he has told categorical, bare-face, red-arsed lies about this over and over and over again. He has threatened the media with writs and lawyers for speculating on this matter AND he only admitted it when he was going to be publicly out-ed by the media and/or members of his own party.

Kennedy is far to much of a decent bloke to be in politics. He doesnt have the coniving, devious, biggoted selfishness to be a politician. He should resign.
 
asthmatic camel said:
Charles Kennedy, possibly one of Britain's most honest politicians, is being thoroughly backstabbed because he's been genuine enough to admit to having a drink problem. The poor sod. :(

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4587076.stm

Yeah, very Liberal and Democratic. :rolleyes:
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I quite like the public picture we have of Kennedy BUT he has denied very strongly and publicly in the past that he has a drink problem (I think Jeremy Paxman was the first mass media interviewer that asked him).

So Kennedy hasn't been honest about his problem which I do think is a problem for such a senior politician however if his drink problem does not interfere with his ability to do his job I think it is wrong to use it as the reason for him to step down. A "drink problem" does not necessarily equate to him being a 24 hour 7 days a week incoherent drunkard!

ETA: Many of our best known politicians have been known to drink in what is my opinion too much, Thatcher and Churchill both come to mind, although this article almost denies it I think it reads as if Churchill did have something that today would be described as a "drink problem" http://www.winstonchurchill.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=99
 
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Darat said:
So Kennedy hasn't been honest about his problem which I do think is a problem for such a senior politician however if his drink problem does not interfere with his ability to do his job I think it is wrong to use it as the reason for him to step down. A "drink problem" does not necessarily equate to him being a 24 hour 7 days a week incoherent drunkard!

ETA: Many of our best known politicians have been known to drink in what is my opinion too much, Thatcher and Churchill both come to mind, although this article almost denies it I think it reads as if Churchill did have something that today would be described as a "drink problem" http://www.winstonchurchill.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=99
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Yes, but I think its pretty clear that CK's dirty little secret has indeed affected his performance. Tuition Fees Vote anybody?

Also, what is acceptable changes. Just because Henry VIII went around chopping off his wifes' heads and invading France, doesnt mean that its acceptable behaviour from Tony Blair.
 
Jon_in_london said:
Yes, but I think its pretty clear that CK's dirty little secret has indeed affected his performance. Tuition Fees Vote anybody?
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And there are other instances that people are now saying were caused by his drinking however I'm not taking much notice of them at the moment since as we all know the politicos like to play dirty.

Jon_in_london said:
Also, what is acceptable changes. Just because Henry VIII went around chopping off his wifes' heads and invading France, doesn't mean that its acceptable behaviour from Tony Blair.
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Well no he's not the monarch... :p (Mind you I bet this Christmas invading France was high on his list to Santa and I'm certain from time to time that he's wanted to at least gag his wife if not chop her head off !)
 
asthmatic camel said:
Charles Kennedy, possibly one of Britain's most honest politicians, is being thoroughly backstabbed because he's been genuine enough to admit to having a drink problem. The poor sod. :(

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4587076.stm

Yeah, very Liberal and Democratic. :rolleyes:
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Oh, come on AC, wake up and smell the coffee.

While saying you don't have a drink problem when you do may be "denial", flatly asserting that you have never consulted a doctor about a drink-related problem when you are currently under medical treatment for alcoholism is way beyond the definition of "honest". The sheer number of video clips showing him telling obvious porkies is frankly embarrassing.

And as for "being genuine enough to admit...."! His colleagues had been begging him on their knees to do that for months if not years, and he refused and went on with the denial. He only "admitted" it because ITN was set to run an expose on him 30 minutes later.

Now he can't see that losing the support of his parliamentary team damages him irretrievably, and is dishonestly trying to appeal over the heads of the people who have real, first-hand experience of the problems he is causing to the people who have only ever been exposed to his charisma. And have so little political nous that they can't see the reality of the situation.

He may be fighting his alcoholism, but his own account reveals someone who has been trying to stay on the wagon for 18 months but keeps falling off. Two months dry (if we believe him) from an alcoholic who persistently relapses is no guarantee of anything, and the likelihood of future relapses at crucial moments and Charlie being unfit for his leadership duties yet again is high.

Sympathy or not, he is clearly unfit to do the job he's trying to cling on to, and needs to face that and resign while he still has any shred of dignity left.

Rolfe.
 
I should think the question to ask is whether it affects his ability to do his job.
He's leader if the Liberal Party for Pete's sake, not something important like a bus driver.
 
And he's gone - he's just made a speech saying he wont be standing in the upcoming leadership election (and I did like his dig at how no one had the guts to have come forward to challenge him).
 
Not one person put themselves forward. Its a shocking indictment of the Lib Dem party. Spineless. Gutless. Useless. Lib. Dem.
 
Jon_in_london said:
Not one person put themselves forward. Its a shocking indictment of the Lib Dem party. Spineless. Gutless. Useless. Lib. Dem.
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No logical. He would have been hard to beat amoung the part memebers so a stupid macho stand up and fight it out would not have been a logical course to follow. The other problem is that all the logical contenders are on the record with pretty strong staments of loyalty so it would look bad if they ran against him.
 
Oh well, now he's resigned, perhaps he'll return to being the witty, fearless, outspoken man that he used to be before he began his leadership of the LibDems and was forced to be rather more diplomatic (aka dishonest).

And his "denial" is a classic symptom of the illness. Had there been any danger of the man actually holding a position of real power, I might have been a little concerned by his drinking habits. As it is, he was the leader of the Liberal Democrats, and never likely to be able to, say, involve the country in a disastrous war in Iraq, which our rather more sober prime minister has. Nor to raise taxes to unsustainable levels, as our "Iron Chancellor" has.

I think it's a real shame that one of the better men in British politics has been forced to resign because he enjoys a tipple. He's hardly alone in Westminster when it comes to that particular sin, is he?

The subsidised House of Commons bar could tell a tale or two, were anyone other than Private Eye brave enough to describe our politicians as occasionally being somewhat "tired and emotional."
 
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Jon_in_london said:
Not one person put themselves forward. Its a shocking indictment of the Lib Dem party. Spineless. Gutless. Useless. Lib. Dem.
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They sensibly chose to pressure him to step down first. It worked. This way is much better for everyone.

While I don't quite think of him as harshly as Rolfe does, I do agree that he should spend more than two months off the sauce before he can hold a top political position.

asthmatic camel said:
Oh well, now he's resigned, perhaps he'll return to being the witty, fearless, outspoken man that he used to be before he began his leadership of the LibDems and was forced to be rather more diplomatic (aka dishonest).

And his "denial" is a classic symptom of the illness. Had there been any danger of the man actually holding a position of real power, I might have been a little concerned by his drinking habits. As it is, he was the leader of the Liberal Democrats...
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As to whether he's important, the next election might be close, and if we get a coallition government the Lib Dem leader will be in the Cabinet as Home Secretary or Chancellor or Foreign Secretary. I can't see them settling for less. This makes the Lib Dem leader potentially important.
 
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