Irritatingly, the thoughts I wrote on Tony Blair’s departure and Gordon Brown’s leadership have vanished into cyberspace, and no, I didn’t back it up, and yes, I am a fool for not doing so.
Here are a few hastily reconstructed and crudely paraphrased points instead:
A bizarre, seemingly pointless and poorly written article appeared in the Sunday Times a couple of weeks ago by an outspoken critic of Blair (his name momentarily escapes me), basically saying that Blair’s dealings in Iraq etc were unforgivable and will overshadow his achievements, but hey, he smiled a lot, introduced Cool Britannia (if fleetingly) and engineered a new governmental trend in spin over substance (actually, I think that was Peter Mandelson in the ‘80s, but whatever), plus his almost evangelical belief that he was carrying out the will of God in Iraq was touching. And for that reason alone, isn’t Tony Blair a lovely man?!
I spent ages thinking about this, and – once I had stopped fuming and ranting – had to concede that I don’t entirely disagree with this, as uncomfortable as it makes me feel. However, I think that this is more indicative of how shallow our culture has become than it is testament to the greatness of Tony Blair.
I vividly remember the 1997 General Election. I stayed up all night watching it on TV with my cousin, and dancing round the flat at 6am when the Blairs arrived at Number 10, belting out D:ream’s Things Can Only Get Better, as my cousin sat sulking and chain smoking (he is a Tory, unfortunately), and those scenes really sum it up for me. We were always waiting for things to get better, and they kind of did, in the sense that Labour’s victory after 18 years of Tory government brought with it euphoria, optimism and promises of renewal and change. We had a handsome, young, cool new leader who used to have long hair and play in a rock band and who invited Noel Gallagher to Downing Street. Everything was about the “people”, and we somehow neglected to notice that behind the soundbites (remember “Education, Education, Education” anyone?) there was very little substance.
XXX
I ALWAYS say this, but I think that 1997 was a very interesting year culturally. Significant changes were coming about: in journalism, a new discourse was emerging, in which journalists turned their writing inwards and started writing about their lives (John Diamond writing about his battle with cancer in the Times on Saturday; Ruth Picardie writing a similar article in the Observer; Helen Fielding in the Independent – a column which was later developed into Bridget Jones’s Diary). Our growing interest in other people’s lives was displayed in the (then) astonishing scenes of mass public mourning following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. Ten years on, we have become so media and PR savvy that it would be inconceivable now for the Royals to be so unprepared for such a reaction. Our interest in other people’s lives has grown to such an extent that our lives are practically one big reality TV programme. Everyone is a celebrity. Heat Magazine and Big Brother are only part of it. It’s all about the outer face rather than the inner substance. And perhaps that is why – even after Iraq – our enduring memory of Tony Blair is of his smiling face and he will be remembered fondly by a lot of people.
XXX
Gordon Brown is a different man, and I suspect one of more substance. Let’s see what his leadership brings.
_____
Addendum: I have been sitting in a coffee shop writing this, and had to leave hastily to use the loo in an adjacent bookshop, as someone was caught shooting up in the bathroom here (even Starbucks is not immune from insalubrious activity!). As I scrambled up the stairs en route to the bathroom in the bookshop in embladdered discomfort (breaking a toenail in the process – it really hurts, and I will now have to find alternative footwear to the strappy sandals I had intended to wear to Henley on Saturday), I stumbled upon a new biography, entitled something like “Gordon Brown: Prime Minister”. See? The man hasn’t even been in power for a week, and we already can’t get enough of his private life.
Here are a few hastily reconstructed and crudely paraphrased points instead:
A bizarre, seemingly pointless and poorly written article appeared in the Sunday Times a couple of weeks ago by an outspoken critic of Blair (his name momentarily escapes me), basically saying that Blair’s dealings in Iraq etc were unforgivable and will overshadow his achievements, but hey, he smiled a lot, introduced Cool Britannia (if fleetingly) and engineered a new governmental trend in spin over substance (actually, I think that was Peter Mandelson in the ‘80s, but whatever), plus his almost evangelical belief that he was carrying out the will of God in Iraq was touching. And for that reason alone, isn’t Tony Blair a lovely man?!
I spent ages thinking about this, and – once I had stopped fuming and ranting – had to concede that I don’t entirely disagree with this, as uncomfortable as it makes me feel. However, I think that this is more indicative of how shallow our culture has become than it is testament to the greatness of Tony Blair.
I vividly remember the 1997 General Election. I stayed up all night watching it on TV with my cousin, and dancing round the flat at 6am when the Blairs arrived at Number 10, belting out D:ream’s Things Can Only Get Better, as my cousin sat sulking and chain smoking (he is a Tory, unfortunately), and those scenes really sum it up for me. We were always waiting for things to get better, and they kind of did, in the sense that Labour’s victory after 18 years of Tory government brought with it euphoria, optimism and promises of renewal and change. We had a handsome, young, cool new leader who used to have long hair and play in a rock band and who invited Noel Gallagher to Downing Street. Everything was about the “people”, and we somehow neglected to notice that behind the soundbites (remember “Education, Education, Education” anyone?) there was very little substance.
XXX
I ALWAYS say this, but I think that 1997 was a very interesting year culturally. Significant changes were coming about: in journalism, a new discourse was emerging, in which journalists turned their writing inwards and started writing about their lives (John Diamond writing about his battle with cancer in the Times on Saturday; Ruth Picardie writing a similar article in the Observer; Helen Fielding in the Independent – a column which was later developed into Bridget Jones’s Diary). Our growing interest in other people’s lives was displayed in the (then) astonishing scenes of mass public mourning following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. Ten years on, we have become so media and PR savvy that it would be inconceivable now for the Royals to be so unprepared for such a reaction. Our interest in other people’s lives has grown to such an extent that our lives are practically one big reality TV programme. Everyone is a celebrity. Heat Magazine and Big Brother are only part of it. It’s all about the outer face rather than the inner substance. And perhaps that is why – even after Iraq – our enduring memory of Tony Blair is of his smiling face and he will be remembered fondly by a lot of people.
XXX
Gordon Brown is a different man, and I suspect one of more substance. Let’s see what his leadership brings.
_____
Addendum: I have been sitting in a coffee shop writing this, and had to leave hastily to use the loo in an adjacent bookshop, as someone was caught shooting up in the bathroom here (even Starbucks is not immune from insalubrious activity!). As I scrambled up the stairs en route to the bathroom in the bookshop in embladdered discomfort (breaking a toenail in the process – it really hurts, and I will now have to find alternative footwear to the strappy sandals I had intended to wear to Henley on Saturday), I stumbled upon a new biography, entitled something like “Gordon Brown: Prime Minister”. See? The man hasn’t even been in power for a week, and we already can’t get enough of his private life.
No comments:
Post a Comment