WEASEL WORDS OF THE WEEK

09-09-2006

It's been a blood-soaked seven days in the political arena with Tony Blair clinging on to power in the face of a ministerial rebellion. But amongst all this verbal sword-play, whose words were the most weasel-like?

Certainly not those of the West Bromwich MP and junior defence minister Tom Watson, who triggered the crisis with theclaim that indecision over Blair's future was bad for the country and bad for the party.

He was absolutely right to say what he did, and brave too, to risk his political future in saying it.

The man who stands most to benefit from watson's resignation, Gordon Brown might well have qualified for weasel words of the week, but significantly, throughout this Whitehall slugfest, he kept stumm. Silence is golden? Maybe.

Charles Clarke couldn't keep quiet, laying into Brown with a glee that waspitiful to see. He reckons the chancellor has flaws in his psychological make-up. Er, who doesn't Charles? Certainly not an embittered ex-minister sticking the boot into a colleague who will never hold high office again. Oh no.

But despite Clarke's late intervention the winner this week has to be the Prime Minister himself, when he apologised for the actions of the Labour Party in having such a public row.

He hasn't said sorry in the past 7 days (or ever so far as we are aware) for the death of British troops in Iraq and Afghanistan

Nor has he said sorry for triggering his own domestic troubles by telling The Times that he would quit but wasn't sure when.

Nope, he's only said sorry for all the other fools who he reckons are the cause of the trouble for daring to suggestthat he may have outstayed his welcome at No. 10.