I can still remember the moment when our eyes first met across, well to be
honest, a not-too-crowded room. In fact it was the House of Commons chamber
which was, of course, virtually deserted. I was on my usual perch in the
reporters' gallery and a youthful Tony Blair was on the Opposition front bench.
It was 1989 and Blair, a shadow frontbencher, spent most of his time gazing
adoringly upwards at the press benches, smiling and winking like a demented
schoolchild - in hindsight, the first sign that the cultivation and then control
of the media would be a cornerstone of his early success.
Read the full column HERE.
22 comments:
The bit about a "skip" is amusing when Blair gave his blessing for same sex partnerships. Just down Tory Tonys street along with CCHQ miss pierce.
On your advice that it was worth a read I read it.
You were wrong. Not worth a read and cetrtainly not worth whatever he is paid to write it.
The paragraph you quoted clearly justifies the writing of the article. I preferred Matthew Paris' excellent piece. On the whole, a good balanced account from the Times. Much better than the Telegraph's "no clear winners".
(Anthony King is professor of government at Essex University)
I see the BBC has removed any reference to the Labour rout off its front page. When it was the other way round and the Tories were losing ground it was available day after day.
The labour control over the BBC is the most concerning about the power of spin ( lies).
The Tories must 'sort out' the BBC whan they are back in power.
Johnny Norfolk - the only way to "sort out" the BBC is to destroy it. Its tentacles are entwined round every aspect of our country, squeezing the life out of whatever the monster doesn't like.
Like other toxic national institutions, the BBC got its legitimacy because of the war. So did the NHS. Frankly, I'm surprised we don't still have rationining, under the mantle of "fairness". Who let go of that perfect means of controlling the electorate? A tory with high falutin' ideas of the liberty of the individual ...
The Beeb and the NHS aren't reformable because they are toxic through and through. There's nowhere to start. Absolute destruction, with a stake through the heart, a silver bullet, a cross and a string of garlic is the only way to treat these two repellent organisations.
I wouldn't trust Pierce as far as I could throw him. When he worked for Murdoch (ie: The times) he was always making bitchy comments about the Tories.
I'm sure, like other Fleet Street scribblers and editors (Piers Morgan perhaps the most shameless), he was "looked after" by the NuLab spin machine.
Now having left the sinking ship, he's busy ingratiating himself with Cameron.
Andrew Pierce is pure tory spin. This is a case of the pot calling the kettle black.
Verity
Wish I could have said it better.
Conservative debate on the matter of the BBC, should not be IF the BBC should be destroyed. But how and when, and how much damage is the BBC capable of doing before this is possible?
Cameron would have to have gone politicaly insane to let the BBC know he intends to close the BBC down.
However he would also be insane to expect he has the slightest chance of solving ANY of this countrys problems without destroying the BBC on his first day in office.
He is a politician, so he must be at least half insane. So I suspect he will fudge the issue. this will result in many open public confrontations with the corporation with a then Conservative government. This hopefully will result in. The privatisation of the BBC, becoming party policy for the following GE, in say 2014.
Spring and some
rather 'interesting' local government election results seem to have brought out the wishfull thinking in me. But when you actually still live in Britain its sometimes all that, gets you though the day.
It's the bbc and the guardian group that need blowing up.labour slit their own throats via devolution but the break up of my country is too high a price even for their destruction
I see the BBC has removed any reference to the Labour rout off its front page
A great pleasure of the election coverage was the expression on the Huw Welshboyo beeboid's face when he was forced to relate the news that Labour had lost in Scotland. He could not say it. He pleaded for his earpiece, BBC Scotland, God, anyone to deny this terrible heresy. Finally he was forced to say it. The pursed-lips, lemon-sucking uncomprehending amazement, disgust and horror on his face was a comic joy.
Naturally the BBC as the propaganda wing of New Labour has now begun to edit recent history, while Nanny Hewitt has "called" for goodthinking Labourpersons to unite behind Brown and "build" on the election results. That there was nothing to build on or unite behind will soon be conveniently obscured.
Verity
Do I take it that you are not a supporter of the BBC then.
I must say its nice to know I am not alone in hating the BBC for what it is and what it has done. I hope the Tories will take a leaf out of Blairs book and put its own people at all levels in the BBC, but i agree I think it has to go.
Destruction of the BBC. When ? The day after Terry Wogan announces his retirement.
Pierce likes the company of the CCHQ Tory Gay Mafia. Thats why he has appeared on the current scene.
Pierce also knows that Cameron is the future In-man.
Did he give Tone the wink and the nod those years ago too.
The Graun today, in the Review section points out that it is poor biographers and commentators who tend to be writing with a bit too much hindsight and reinterpreting every single action and word to try and make it all predict the present.
I think Pierce is falling into the same track and all of you wishing to demean Blair in his final days will simply jump on that too.
Sorry, off topic, but there's a sad piece in The Mail today on Norman Tebbitt.
He obviously misses not being a "player" now, despite being in the Lords. He tells us that he almost decided to return to the cabinet two years into early retirement, acting as a carer for his wife Margaret.
Maggie wanted him back, but he decided against it and he seems to have regretted the decision.
I think Norman would have been a great PM, but, honorable as he is, he might well have kept his boss at No 10.
Advice to anyone contemplating early retirement:
Don't. If possible, negotiate a few weeks off, then come back rarin' to go!
The poet Philip Larkin saw work as a toad squatting on his life, but he couldn't do without it.
here are the last two verses from "Toads Revisited":
No, give me my in-tray,
My loaf-haired secretary,
My shall-I-keep-the-call-in-sir:
What else can I answer,
When the lights come on at four
At the end of another year?
Give me your arm old toad:
help me down Cemetry Road.
OK, Gary Powell, the privatisation of the BBC for 2014, but it has to be made clear that from the moment of the announcement, no one has job security and every position will be advertised (although not in The Guardian) and there will be interviews and shortlists. And on every ad for every position, it should read, "We are an equal opportunity employer, but currently, libertarians and those on the political right are under represented."
Ha ha ha ha ha!
sun reader at 5.07:
remember your manners when you're talking about this sort of thing.
The owner of this blog might think you are trolling.
Also, there was a good comment in the comment section after Pierce's article, that, addressing Pierce, said something along the lines of, "OKaaaaaaay ... so why didn't you mention this 10 years ago? Why did you and all the media keep quiet about what you knew?"
Killer point.
Iain! Iain! The front page of the Telegraph web edition no longer has "Conservative gains" as a headline! In fact there is no mention of the election results in the first three stories!
Have they been taken over by the BBC? Should the editorial team be sacked or re-educated?!
Both.
not really relevant to this topic but since u seem to be interested in council representation its worth noting that Labour are unrepresented on the same number of mainland councils as the Conservatives in Scotland. Labour have none in Scottish Borders, Aberdeenshire and Argyll and Bute, we have none in the Highlands, West Dunbartonshire and Midlothian. scottish conservative.
Anon @6.58 Or becoming a real blogging Cottager with a hop skip and a final jump.
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