Foulkes' rare hit on Salmond

Lord George Foulkes must be right pleased with himself this morning as he congratulates himself on a rare 'hit' on Alex Salmond in the papers. I caveat this 'hit' only because, given the seemingly never-ending attempts at denting Salmond's popularity, any exposure in the media must go down as a success and personal vindification for the thousands of Parliamentary Questions that he asks that are not in the public interest.

The man, is quite simply, a buffoon. On that we can all surely agree.

We are led to believe the Lord has had a distinguished career but would the venerable Jack Straw, Donald Dewar or Robin Cook have been treated with such derision from so many quarters, including a sympathetic press?

The suggestion that the SNP and Plaid Cymru used £790 each to challenge the legality of the Iraq War may well have been politically motivated but it was still money well spent. It would be a massive understatement to say that the legal aspect of the Iraq War was 'glossed over'.

Dare we forget the 10 day turnaround back in 2005 when the Attorney-General went from giving advice full of qualifications and warnings about proceeding with military action to a sudden "clear" conclusion that the War was lawful? The dodgy 45 minute dossier? The need for a second UN resolution that was curiously dropped at the eleventh hour?

So £790 for a second opinion on the most ill-advised War in modern times? I'll happily pay for that. But even the value for money is beside the point.

Everything in Politics is politically motivated. You can call political actions a 'stunt' or you can call it the status quo but we can't have every move our politicians make investigated over whether every last penny was used wisely.

Take the Calman commission for example, barely a month old and it's already getting swept under the carpet. At £500,000 or so, this political stunt cost a heck of a lot more than the legal costs Salmond claimed but the idea that it would be challenged for this reason is non-sensical.

Just as non-sensical as Lord George's complaint which he's somehow won a headline out of. Well done Foulkes, you're an inspiration for limited-ability student politicians up and down the land...