Little Willy Syndrome

Little Willy Syndrome (LWS) is manifestly a male problem. Many politicians suffer from it. It produces an overwhelming need in the sufferer to ‘prove’ their masculinity by being more aggressive, more manly, thereby having the cojones to take tough decisions. It also unfortunately leads our society into very dodgy waters. 

The image of Tony Blair, puffed up like a bantam cock, walking alongside George W Bush was very telling. The meeting took place just before the war on Iraq was launched - so no coincidence. [Talking of which .....When exactly is the Chilcott Inquiry going to report....?]

A more risible example of an altitudinally-challenged leader is President Putin. He displays LWS regularly. Every year he is shown in action-man poses, ranging from posing stripped to the waist over a dead animal cradling a large gun, to the latest, about to descend to the depths of the ocean in a submersible. 

Unfortunately LWS can affect whole swathes of our political elite. Take for example our ruler’s attitude towards nuclear weapons and Trident in particular. Any rational human being would regard this issue as a no-brainer. At a time of severe austerity and with growing social problems, the prospect of spending £100bn plus on a new range of weapons of mass destruction is absolute lunacy. Among our elite sadly, sanity is in scarce supply. The Tories and the Labour party are engaged in a ‘mine’s bigger than yours’ contest. And as for the LibDems, what they have come up with is astonishing. 

“This small group of islands does apparently need to retain the ability to wipe out one third of the urban population of humankind, as a defence against something undefined – possibly people we invade getting too annoyed about it - and  in order to increase our “influence” in the World.  As we plainly have less influence than the Germans, who don’t feel this need for the power of obliteration, I do not quite see how this works.  Nor do I see Pakistan, which does have nuclear weapons, as very influential.  Nor do I quite understand how our influence can be increased by possessing something  under effective American control.  But there you are.

Anyway, the Lib Dems have come to the intellectually scintillating conclusion that we do need this world shattering power, but we don’t need it on Wednesday or Thursday afternoons or on Saturday mornings, which will be cheaper.  Brilliant, and plainly does not dodge any big ethical or practical questions at all.” Craig Murray blog 17/7/13

Perhaps the LibDems will not suffer from LWS on Wednesday or Thursday afternoons?