On Liberty and Shami Chakrabarti. But mostly Shami Chakrabarti.

Now the dust has settled a little on David Davis getting all "HULK MAD! GRRRR! SMASH!" on our asses last week, it's worth contemplating someone who has almost as much to lose by his hissy fit as he himself does. Who, I hear you cry? Why, none other than that winsome khol-eyed heroine of the Question Time audience: Shami Chakrabarti.

Chakrabarti has never been popular here at the Tavern. Operating on the Yasmin Alibhai-Brown principle, I've always held that anything that makes the average Question Time audience honk and clap like sealions is necessarily and unarguably wrong even if we've got the sound turned down so I am unable to hear what has been said. Sadly we rarely do have the sound turned down, so with a bowel-clenching regularity viewers in the Smith bunker are treated to Shami's sub-Porter musings on liberty ("it am grrrrreeat!") and how the eeeeeevil Government is trying to destroy it in order that they can, er ... Well, they're just doing it because they're evil authoritarians who probably like torturing puppies, okay? Let's not get too complex about this, it might involve thinking. So applaud, people, applaud! The pretty girl is giving you a simple answer to the debate on the individual's relation to the state that has foxed far finer philosophical minds than hers ever since we climbed down from the trees.

But isn't she luuuuuvvverly?

Those who question the current fad for comparing Labour backbenchers with Stalin are immediately slated as being "worse than Hitler" in favour of a "police state" - c'mon you all read Henry Porter, you know the words - sing along!

Anyway, I don't intend to turn this into a rant on the nature of liberty. Instead I'd like to have a quick look at Chakrabarti's impact on the Davis resignation.

There was an article in the Times on Friday which had an interesting take on the influence of the Liberty Belle:

"Some of those seeking to explain his actions cite tiredness as a factor. One Tory MP said: “He’s been working 20 hours a day on this for weeks. He’s always been a bit obsessive, and on this one he’s flipped.” Another reportedly said that Mr Davis had fallen too heavily under the influence of Shami Chakrabarti, the director of Liberty, with whom he has worked closely.

"Friends of Mr Davis dismiss the idea that an exhausted man was bewitched by anyone. Although his actions were informed by personal circumstance and taken at a time when feelings were running high, there is, they insist, a genuine political purpose."

From the Independent on Saturday:

"On Tuesday, the ex-Territorial SAS soldier was in the glamorous company of the actress Honor Blackman, designer Vivienne Westwood and Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty. As Liberty released balloons to highlight its opposition to 42-day detention, Mr Davis "looked like he'd finally found people he was comfortable with and who wanted to listen to him", according to a witness."

And the Daily Mail:

"Many of us feel [Davis] has simply left the disreputable asylum of his own free will.I love also the idea that he has fallen under the siren spell of the outstanding Shami Chakrabarti of Liberty. Is it possible that he just agrees with her, that civil liberties are important to him? Has integrity in a politician become so unimaginable that we always seek ulterior motives for their actions?

"Obviously yes."

With the news in that Labour aren't standing a candidate, it rather looks like Davis is going to spend a couple of weeks on the stump against a motley array of topless models and men dressed as chickens. There are two points to be made here. Firstly, irrespective of the reasons for Davis' resignation, politicians don't decide the issues on which elections are fought - voters do. Whatever basis he might arrogantly order the electorate to vote on, there is no requirement at all for them to do so. Secondly, with no serious competition against him, he's likely to resemble someone attempting to give a lecture on the future of aviation at the Bognor birdman rally and thusly a bit of a plonker.

Regardless of Chakrabarti trying to distance herself from Davis' kamikaze endeavour, some elements of the Conservative party have clearly laid the blame at her door. In fact, in Dispatches last Monday she was boasting of her contact with MPs and how she managed to persuade Frank Cook to change his mind on 42 days. Nevertheless, for someone who is happy to be seen as an influential player, her tactic now appears to be a desperate attempt to stay firmly and safely in the bunker as Davis hoves over the top.

Too late.

Chakrabarti's allowed her organisation to be used by the Government who also operate on the Yasmin principle; if she's against it then the vast majority of people will be for it. She's also allowing herself to be used by the Conservatives, because in the long run Davis' actions are going to be good news for Cameron. He rids himself of a turbulent priest and the suggestion that any future Tory administration would allow Chakrabarti through the door is laughable - this is the party who used the police as a political tool during the miners' strike for heaven's sake. She's merely a convenient rent-a-gob who can be relied on to give the Government a bashing over 42 days and a fool if she thinks that she's got any more influence amongst Conservative high command than that.

So instead of being a referendum on Stuff Shami Likes, Davis' "noble" stand on "liberty" looks set to tarnish the Chakrabarti brand in the chaos of a by-election in which nobody is standing apart from naked ladies and walking poultry.

Be careful what you wish for, eh?