The Golden Strawberry

Not that we usually take things out of context (perish the thought) but…..

David Cameron:

I’m a Conservative. I believe in punishment

Well, quite.

Cory

I’ve just watched the Trial of Tony Blair, broadcast on Channel 4 this evening.

It was alright. I certainly didn’t think it was as bad as Clive Davis makes out:

I’ve just watched 25 minutes of The Trial of Tony Blair. Pathetic, truly pathetic. I couldn’t bear to sit through any more, so I’ll just have to read the morning papers to see if the script improved later on. How the production team must have chortled when they sat around reading those oh so funny lines about New Labour’s warmonger-in-chief.

If I were Robert Lindsay, I’d be having a sleepless night tonight.

True, some of the script was a bit OTT. The scriptwriters could either choose to have a fairly plausible, factual account of a legacy-obsessed Tony Blair betrayed by Prime Minister Brown on trial for war crimes, or they could go for something outrageous but humourous. They plumped for the latter. Some of the funniest lines, like the sergeant in the police station telling a fussy, recently-arrested Blair, “We didn’t have this problem with Lord Levy”, just don’t score well on the reality front. The script seems, well, scripted for the Blair-haters who want to cheer on as Robert Lindsay is extradicted to the Hague.

I’m glad I saw it though; Alexander Armstrong as David Cameron was particularly entertaining, even if the satire for him was not exactly original - the cyclist with chauffer behind him, who wears an open-necked shirt and is “down with da kids” (Still true though). In fact all the acting was superb - despite the overblown script, all parts were prevented from being mere caricatures.

Not that what was depicted could ever happen. Could it…..?

Cory

It’s been a while since I set something down on this blog. I’ve been busy the last week writing an essay. This is in turn buggered up my sleep patterns, so after handing in the essay on Tuesday, I needed a couple of days to recover. Which I have done.

 Of course, now my sleep patterns will be messed up by watching the local election coverage on BBC1, which starts at a rather late 12.50am.

 Perhaps I wouldn’t usually watch coverage of local elections. It’s not as if anyone bothers to vote in them. Even when they do, it’s not because they prefer party A’s policy on recycling. It’s because they’re annoyed with how crap the government is. If Labour take a pummelling in today’s elections, I’d be interested to see the repercussions for Labour.

I wrote earlier that I will not pass judgement on Labour until I know the results, and the dust has settled. But can Tony Blair really take another beating? The Labour cabinet needs some fresh faces, rather than the same old patronising guffs like Hewitt and Prescott. David Miliband, perhaps? Or the MP for my own constituency in Oldham East and Saddleworth, Phil Woolas. He’s a nice guy, and has moved silently up the New Labour hierarchy to become Local Government Minister. So he’s not stupid, and could go far. As I say, I’m not saying ANYTHING about how Labour’s falling apart until every last vote has been counted.

I will say something about David Cameron. Vote Blue, go Green, eh? The Mirror revealed that about five minutes after Cameron leaves on his bike, his chauffer (!) pops round to his house, picks up his shoes and papers, and does the exact same route as Cameron does! So much for saving the world. Cameron should have his reputation to salvage after not only flying to Norway to look at the effects of global warming, and flying on a HELICOPTER from Manchester to Bury to do some local campaigning. No doubt he espoused the Tory’s Vote Blue etc policy. Typical hypocritical Tory.

I’m signing off there, as I’m a little drunk anyway. Take care,

Roy.

-posted by Roy

One senior minister under fire would just be shrugged off as a normal, everyday occurrence. Two senior cabinet ministers under fire is unusual. But three? That’s taking the pee.

Yet this is what happened yesterday. Of course, Labour’s “Black Wednesday” hardly compares with the ERM collapses of 1992. But this comes the week before the local elections, at a time when Labour were already at their lowest poll rating since I was born.

 Although Jonathan Freedland makes an interesting point, John Prescott ought to be the minister in least danger. It’s certainly a pretty disgraceful thing that he has done, and all sympathies should lie with his wife. Unless Prescott has done something Blunkett-esque and broken the ministerial code (as Freedland speculated) then I see on reason why he should resign. I think the Times leader gets it spot on with this comment:
 

This is not a resignation issue, but it will hardly be Pauline Prescott alone who thinks far less of her husband as a man and as a public figure after learning of the full details of this story. The Deputy Prime Minister is becoming a liability to this administration. The ugly aroma of the arrogance of power is rapidly attaching itself to him.

Perhaps the last sentence is a bit too wordy (sounds like something Thomas Carlyle would have written) but you get the point.
 UPDATE – just seen this on Iain Dale’s blog. He is a Tory, so think twice before believing him. Just remember you heard it here first…
 Charles Clarke is a different matter. Yes, these criminals had served their time, and paid their debt to society. Letting them wander free onto Britain’s streets without even considering them for deportation, and not even knowing where they are – now that’s scary. 288 criminals were released without being deported even after Charles Clarke knew there was a problem! In more civilised political times, Clarke would have done the decent thing and resigned.

Finally, although some Labour bloggers are bristling at the ingratitude of the nurses who booed and jeered Patricia Hewitt, you can see their point, can’t you chaps? If you are going to make daft remarks like this, with the NHS in the financial state it’s in, what do you expect? Labour is spending more than ever on the NHS, and getting improvements. That doesn’t mean the Health Secretary should get delirious, sack 7000 nurses, and then tell a conference of nurses that everything’s going to be OK.

I was surprised not by the heckling (you’ll always get one person heckling, even if it’s only some mad old bat with an asparagus complex) but by the scale of the heckling. It was uncomfortable and embarrassing to watch. Even I, as someone who would usually rather extract my own teeth with a rusty spanner than listen to Patricia Hewitt talking, had some sympathy for her on this occasion. I get the impression that she is a fighter and that she will carry on. Opposition from angry nurses wearing similar t-shirts is not a resignation matter.

Cameron was very impressive at PMQs. Blair was indeed on the ropes, and squirmed the best he could. Probably still wasn’t good enough. I will reserve judgement on the state of New Labour and his premiership until after the local elections next week. Perhaps the person who has emerged from the day with my opinion of them most damaged is Sir Menzies Campbell, yet this story most newspapers have only touched upon. What a muppet Campbell is! He has a golden opportunity to make some political capital, and somehow managed to score an own goal. Even Labour managed to get through the day without misleading the house…

Posted by Roy