"Just what has Stephen Doughty done to upset Keir Starmer? Are there no limits to the prime minister's contempt and hatred? Not that Steve is a total nobody. He's not a run-of-the-mill backbencher. But he has risen as high as he is likely to go as a junior minister in the Foreign Office. Probably higher than Steve ever expected. Certainly higher than his mates expected. Put simply, Steve is a dependable plodder."
"Someone who can be trusted to do as he is told. To not ask questions. And yet for Keir he is just collateral damage. Expendable. Not that this is how it will have been put to Steve. Rather, the prime minister's outriders will have taken him to one side. A word in your ear. We've got a top-secret mission for you. Get this right and we can win the war. The future of the country is in your hands."
Stephen Doughty, a dependable junior Foreign Office minister, was dispatched to answer an urgent question about Peter Mandelson's appointment and to announce Mandelson's sacking. Opposition MPs subjected Doughty to a severe attack in Parliament, leaving visible bruises. The prime minister's outriders framed the task as a high-stakes mission, portraying Doughty as expendable collateral sent to absorb political fallout. Military imagery compared the assignment to infantry sacrificed at the Somme. Despite apparent need for respite, Doughty was left to face further maulings while colleagues such as the foreign secretary and Yvette Cooper showed little concern for his wellbeing.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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