Not waving but drowning

By Shibley Rahman / @shibleylondon

Ed Miliband’s performance in PMQs can only be considered a marathon, and not a sprint. However, at least the ‘seasoned’ British political commentators have been consistent in their breathtaking bias. When Ed Miliband ‘does well’ in PMQs, some of these journalists instantaneously take to the airwaves to insist that nobody watches PMQs on a Wednesday lunchtime anyway. When David Cameron does well, it is a sign of brilliant wit, showing that Ed Miliband’s leadership is in its dying days. Thankfully the UK voters are not stupid as to judge the future of this country on a somewhat limited pre-prepared stand-up performance from David Cameron. A deserving ‘funny man’ he most certainly is, David Cameron’s one-liners are of little solace to students and recipients of the DLA.

Round 1: the PMQs of 1 December 2010. Ed Miliband tried to pull a literary punch with David Cameron by asking whether David was indeed “the son of Thatcher”, alluding to Wikileaks earlier that week. David Cameron started his answer laughing, in mock-pity, saying, ‘Oh dear, not waving but drowning”.

In a sense, it was brilliant for David Cameron to refer to a classic poem by Stevie Smith in 1957, called “Not waving, but drowning”; if that’s what he meant. The work, the most famous of Smith’s poems, describes a man whose distressed thrashing in the sea causes onlookers to believe that he is waving to them. The text of the poem is as follows:

“Nobody heard him, the dead man,
 But still he lay moaning: 
I was much further out than you thought
 And not waving but drowning.”

“Poor chap, he always loved larking 
And now he’s dead
 It must have been too cold for him his heart gave way, 
They said.”

“Oh, no no no, it was too cold always 
(Still the dead one lay moaning)
 I was much too far out all my life
 And not waving but drowning.”

But what is the actual meaning of this poem? One expert, Ingrid Hotz-Davies, has suggested that the “drowning man” is Smith herself, but the poem’s humorous tone masks this plea for help. While David Cameron appears to be laughing at Ed Miliband, his funny words could belie some distress about his own personal professional standing, while this coalition falls apart day-by-day. Other commentators have picked up on the “pain behind the smile” theme of the poem. This, of course, would not be entirely at odds with a man with supposedly good presentation skills, but who is inflicting the worst cuts since the Second World War.

A week’s a long time in politics. Fast forward to Round 2. David Cameron was in trouble, such that Ed Miliband was immediately able to return him the compliment.

But here, it is totally clear that David Cameron is drowning, and sadly his armbands have failed to inflate. I am clearly biased – but so are the other commentators. I look forward to Round 3.