Matthew Oakeshott - fired from a job he doesn't have?

I've got quite a lot of time for my noble Lord, Lord Oakeshott. Always entertaining company, always ready with a witty, or barbed, comment for the media. He has reliably said what many Lib Dem activists are thinking, and his credibility as someone with a long track record in the financial industry certainly gives weight to his comments.

So, the news that he has been sacked as the Party's frontbench Treasury spokesperson in the Lords has come as a bit of a blow to a number of my colleagues. I am, however, not angry, or upset, but confused. If Danny Alexander has effectively sacked him on national television, I'm actually rather surprised. Why? Because not only can't Danny fire him (only the Leader of the Parliamentary Party in the Lords, Tom McNally, can do that), but Matthew doesn't hold a position that he can be fired from.

No, the person I feel a mite sorry for is Dick Newby, who has been our Treasury spokesman in the Lords since 1998. And it's not a particularly glamorous job either, highly technical, with a number of former Chancellors still knocking about, playing Statler and Waldorf roles. So, rather than mourn the non-sacking of Matthew Oakeshott, why not raise a glass to Dick Newby instead?