David Heath should stay on the Lib Dem front bench

Nich Starling, the Norfolk Blogger, is running a poll on whether or not David Heath should stay on the Lib Dem front bench if he votes in favour of a referendum on the Lisbon.

I have voted that he should stay.

The idea that Nick Clegg would be showing strength by forcing out one of the party's most respected Commons figures strikes me as barking mad. It would show a terrible lack of judgement.

Perhaps there are arguments in favour of Heath resigning as shadow secretary of state for justice, but to convince anyone they will have to better than those deployed by The Willow Man:

As Leader, Nick has made it very clear that he thinks the new Treaty is not the same as the old Constitution and there would be no need for a vote. Thats the party line and thats where it should have been left.

Whether or not the Lisbon treaty is substantially the same as the shelved Constiution is a question of fact. It is not something that can be settled by the pronouncement of one man. Nick Clegg is not the Pope nor is he Kim Il-Sung, and I am sure he has no ambition to be either.

And even if you think the Treaty is substantially different from the Constitution, it is still possible to come to a different conclusion from Nick. This is particularly the case when so little effort has been put into justifying this new party policy.

Still, the Willow Man is not all Kim Il-Sung. There is a little bit of David Brent in there too:

It's about time Mr Heath learnt "There is no 'I' in 'team'."

So please vote in Nich's poll.