PM William Ewart Gladstone refused to help, General
'Chinese' Gordon, the 35,000 British troops, men, women and children trapped at
the siege of Khartoum in 1885 - in spite of pleas by Queen
Victoria.
His obfuscation, delays and mean-mindedness over
eight solid months cost considerable numbers of
lives.
Liberals of his day could be just as crass and terrible as
so many that we have today. (The government still had to send Kitchener to The
Sudan to sort out the appalling situation there.) The thing is, like today, the liberal principles mattered even more than human lives.
Gladstone was soon voted out of
office.
