No show
- 20 Sep 06, 06:13 PM
BRIGHTON: Well well. So now we know. Despite Charles Kennedy's proclamation of loyalty to his successor we discover that he refused to stage a public show of unity in which old leader and new would shake hands on the Conference stage.
I have just been interviewing Sir Ming Campbell about his tax plans (who are the rich who will pay more?), why he's frightened to say that coalition government would be good for Britain, his reaction to cartoons which portray him as an old boy with a zimmer frame or in a wheelchair and the handshake that never was. (Watch the whole interview here.)
Diplomatically he says: "We discussed the choreography. This was Charles Kennedy's day."
Behind the scenes they are less diplomatic. Charles clearly cannot forgive. Neither, let it be said, can many here who note bitterly that Kennedy gave no apology for the agony he put his party through as he battled his drink problem (and, incidentally, who chastised me for suggesting yesterday that his speech was better than the ones he gave as leader!).
