Memoirs
I’m flabbergasted!
Not that The Liar has published memoirs: we knew they were coming. Nor the mindboggling arrogance of those memoirs (at least as reported): again that’s as expected. But the chattering classes once again seem to give them credence. Or at least, to believe that he believes them. I mean, good grief, haven’t we learned from all those years of bitter experience?
I’d sooner take the Prince of Darkness’s word on the history of New Labour. Obviously not at face value, but Mandelson seems the more interesting and less megalomaniac(!!!) of the two. Perhaps more to the point, Mandelson has some presence in the real world as opposed to his own pure fantasyland. Or for a spot of plain speaking, reconstruct fragments from the working-class mascot John Prescott: he’s not articulate enough to lie Blair-style, and what he says (where sufficiently coherent) is at least likely to be what he means. Prescott has already rubbished what Blair says about Brown: I guess he’s too honest to let that pass when the meeja asked him.
Interesting historic question: could Brown have made a competent leader, if he hadn’t been driven (quite literally) mad by being number two to The Liar? I mean, back in the 1990s: it was clear by about the time of the second Labour term (2001) that Brown’s grasp was failing in some matters, and in retrospect he was evidently already quite mad.
Posted on September 1, 2010, in politics, uk. Bookmark the permalink. 2 Comments.
niq's soapbox 
I also am not worthy of reading these memoirs. However, I recommend you look at Matt’s cartoon in yesterday’s (Sep.1) Telegraph. As always he’s spot on.
Whatever you think of the New Labour Experience, you can’t get away from the fact that it happened, and Our Tony was an important figure in it. As such, his memoirs are a valuable resource for anyone who wants to understand the state of British politics today.
And that’s still true even if the text itself is complete fiction from beginning to end. Because if he is lying, his choice of what he takes the time to lie about will tell us something, and the reaction of others in the party today to those lies will tell us more. And if he’s telling what he perceives to be the truth, that’s even more valuable – it’s an insight into his mind, which can tell us about why people come to believe the things they do, and maybe how we can stop it from happening again.
Of course the same thing is true of Mandy’s memoirs. And for myself, I’m not going to touch either one of them. But I can understand why the chattering classes are excited.