Nothing Doing

Sometimes deliberate inaction is a leaders best policy, and one that I can't help thinking David Cameron should have followed over yesterdays vote on a European referendum. By making the vote (which wouldn't in any case have bound the Government to holding a referendum) a three line whip, the Prime Minister provoked a confrontation with his backbenchers that he needn't have had. He may claim that, "There's no, on my part, no bad blood, no rancour, no bitterness," but this is difficult to believe when prior to the vote all MPs were warned that defying the whip would mean an end to any hopes of promotion. A wiser course for the Government might have been to ignore the debate and underplay it as much as possible - rather than exacerbate the entrenched Euro-tensions in the Conservative Party.


Sometimes it's best to walk away from a fight, rather than face it up. But choosing when to do so is tricky. 


Church leaders often face these kind of dilemmas too. Inaction and passivity are fatal to a leaders credibility and authority, but picking the wrong battle can be equally undermining. David Cameron is weaker rather than stronger today because of how yesterday played out. That's a mistake not to make.