Yeah, Whatever

No-one could seriously suggest political speeches are as eloquent as they once were, even in recent history. In US politics, there has been an intense purge of the articulate; John McCain has even made a point of attacking Obama's eloquence. In Britain there is also an embarrassment about using expressive and literate phraseology. There has been an intellectual retreat into using business-like soundbites.

There is no better example than the abysmal over use of the words, 'whatever it takes.' It will have not escaped your notice Brown and Darling have been doing just that in an attempt, in economic terms, to plug the gaping hole in the dam. I've rather lost track of how many tens of Billions have been doled to whom and for what reason.

The use of "whatever it takes" is now pervasive; yesterday Harriet Harman standing in for Gord at PMQs said the Government would, "do whatever it takes to back up our small business sector". The implication of the phrase is a kind of emotional bluntness. HH was trying to say, 'I get how important this is and I want to demonstrate my absolute commitment to its resolution.' But she might as well have said, 'we'll be trying 200 percent'. Or add the ultimate in pathetic verbal gestures, "and I feel very strongly about it."

The words "whatever it takes" are also empty of purpose; they imply, there is no plan, no well-considered strategy, just a pledge to chuck resourses at a problem in the vain hope it goes away.

John F. Kennedy's eloquence easily eclipsed Obama's and its worth reminding yourself of a time when leaders were not scared to be expressive. Here's the link to his inaugural speech in 1961.

http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres56.html

If you read carefully you will notice within the speech JFK still says the equivalent of 'whatever it takes'. But in those days you would say something like," we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty". Present day speech writers would attack such lucidity with a red-pen demanding several re-writes. Nowadays if it can't be summarised in a three word headline, it's not considered worth saying.

Gordon's Best Speech that Day

The biggest cheer Brown got mid-speech in Manchester last week was when he said "My family are not props but people". The impromptu roar and over-the-head clapping from Ministers like Tony McNulty had me really puzzled. It was obviously a dig at Dave 'the Toff' Cameron. And how relieved were the troops to hear Gordon dare to have a pop. Except his point was totally fatuous. Cameron has allowed one or two shots of the normal 'Dave and the kids' in the market, on the beach. Certainly that staged shot with his wife Sam in Cornwall was pretty nauseous. But these pictures are not so commonplace so anyone could accuse him of exploiting his children's image - rather they show he has some appreciation of ordinary life. It's just with oodles of dosh in the bank he doesn't know anything of the stresses of a tight budget. And then I remembered this shot of Gord with his 'received smile' with wife and wee bairns. So the moral high ground was really no more than Gordon standing on tip-toe.

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What was the big message of the speech they were discussing in the pubs and clubs up and down this great land? Why the New Settlement of course. It has taken Brown and his coterie months to come up with a big idea and the result is instantly forgettable New Settlement. It's a kind of muddled and compromised version of the New Deal I suppose. Except it is only about the vague notion of 'fairness', long gone are those trotskyist principles of social justice and equality. Even a good policy announced on free nursery care for two year olds will take a yawning ten years to deliver. Atlee, Morrison and Bevan gave us the whole welfare state in five.

Overall it was a successful speech, well presented but ultimately lacking and vision for the voters. It was a bit like a good Premiership team who have had a rotten start to the season but then get a good win in the League Cup against Crewe Alexandra. "This could be the kick start to our season," opines the manager, when we all know relegation beckons. That looks certain even with a new manager.

And lead us not into an Election..

No, the picture, left, is not David Miliband estimating Labour's chances of re-election. In fact, his theme was, if anything, defying the fatalism of defeat. If he really believes that, he is not New Labour, he is Evangelical Labour.

'Brains's conference speech today was, as usual, totally bereft of any decent gags. You've got to pity the delegates; the poor buggers have been hard-arsing it in that conference hangar since Saturday morning with barely a good pun to cheer their spirits. The place looks strangely empty with banks of unused seating - there would probably be a better turnout if they put Mama Mia on instead.

Fortunately for everyone, Ministers have been instructed to limit their speeches to a mere six minutes. The downside is there no other option for them but to regale a list of bite-size soundbites.

Dave began by setting out his family's journey, as if it were the opening two minutes of "Who do you think you are?" The story of his Jewish grandfather being refused re-entry to the country in 1945 (he selfishly went to Belgium in search of his wife and child) reminded us immigration authorities have always employed plenty of officious pencil-necks.

But after the personal bit, everyone was looking for a sign, just a subtle hint of disloyalty or independence of spirit which would indicate his intention to move boldly against the PM. But no dice.

What did come was a personal commendation, " to you Gordon" thanking him for his great efforts in improving the world's aid budget. After so much recent in-fighting, Gordon found it impossible to take the compliment with any grace. Brown's tired and quietly resentful smile of 'appreciation' was like that of the amputee whose surprise present turns out to be a new pair of trainers.

Arse, Elbow?

This entry is something of a post-script to the previous one on Brown's miniscule 'gas giveaway'on Thursday. Gordy was quite clear about who would benefit (albeit marginally) when he said, "all lower income and all pensioner households will be eligible." The DEFRA press release was equally crystal when it said the new energy efficiency scheme would apply to, "those most at risk of fuel poverty, including all pensioners." No journalist checked that fact, they didn't need to, did they? It was only when a 60-year old woman contacted the Conservatives to say she had been refused free insulation, this much heralded policy began to unravel. DEFRA press office have now conceded only those over 70 may apply. Compared to the loss of data discs, failing to call an election, dropping the 10p rate, this may appear to be quite a small drama. But it shows the Government at its most disfunctional.

Whenever there is any well-planned Government press announcement, officials sit down, a couple of weeks before, with press officers. Invariably the first question discussed is, 'who benefits from this'? Naturally all Governments wish to push their new policies to the appropriate constituency. The draft release plus background briefing and detailed Q and A would be seen by more senior officials, press officers, special advisers and very often two Ministers before being given clearance. In this case there was an additonal, supposedly more rigorous stage, of going through No.10 as well. The process, like so many in the Civil Service is lengthy but eradicates risk of saying the wrong thing or at the wrong time.

And yet, here, the first principle point of the statement was wrong. There appears to be immense sloppiness at every level of Government. Ultimately it is Hilary Benn's (pictured above) fault as Secretary of State for Environment, it his Department's policy. But the mere fact that Downing Street allowed this farrago to occur at all, shows the well-oiled machine once ran by Alistair Campbell is now grinding its gears and is nearly out of juice.

I Offer you Peace, Bread, Loft Insulation

To the left is the CEO of an unnamed energy company when told he would have to justify price rises to the regulator OFGEM. The Government is just totally impotent in the face of these huge rises - even the latest wheeze of getting the companies to fund £900m for better insulation can easily be passed onto the consumer. The domestic energy market alone is worth about £30bn so Brown's big boast of "a sea-change" in energy consumption looks empty if not insulting. I would be very surprised if the full amount is even spent as the Government's "Warm Front" scheme has been offering almost exactly the same deal since 2000. This big idea also fails to address those legions of families in fuel poverty who rent and whose landlords are not inclined to pay their share.

Millions of Labour voters are desperate to see the Government flexing its muscles, showing it can match words with deeds and address some of the glaringly obvious social injustices. But Brown always tries to strike a perfect balance between all interested parties and in the end nothing is achieved.

Labour's raison d'etre, its rallying cry, used to be equality. Without it there would have been no equal pay act, race relations act or minimum wage.

Now even the word 'equality' sounds too left-wing. It has been expunged and replaced by the altogther more woolly 'fairness'. A good example (below) is an excerpt from Gordon Brown's message to party members at conference on two week's time.

"I know there are people who feel that modern Britain has been unfair to them. Some of them are right. But there is nothing that is bad about Britain that cannot be overcome by what is good about Britain, as long as we keep faith with our belief in fairness. Throughout our history, this nation has repeatedly demonstrated a proud spirit of cautious and practical optimism and we call on that spirit once again. Fair rules, fair chances, and a fair say for everyone: that is the new deal for this new world." Click on the link below for the full text (if you can bear it).
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/sep/08/labour.gordonbrown

Reading the words I was reminded of Robert Donat in the 39 Steps (there's one for the teenagers) when he is compelled to address a public meeting and reels off a series of crowd-pleasing but meaningless platitudes. Brown's vision is similarly opaque. If you forced to summarise his philosophy it would be, "we believe in things in general!"

The Fruits of a Tough Immigration Policy

There have been several references in previous entries of this blog to the patently unjust and inhuman manner Britain now treats asylum seekers. It is as if the words have lost their meaning and the term is now simply a euphemism for 'foreign scrouger'. A hidden aspect and probably the most shocking is how our 'robust' enforcement regimes deal with the children of asylum seekers. About 2,000 kids are locked up in immigration detention centres each year in conditions barely discernible from actual prison. At Yarl's Wood children must pass through eight locked doors before reaching their rooms, they are searched each time, with very little freedom to mix with other families. They have lost nearly all possessions, they have no access to pediatric care and for those traumatised, there is no mental health provision. The catalogue of brutal treatment meted out to these minors is utterly indefensible. Check the link below to the article in this week's New Statesman by Sir Al Aynsley-Green, the Children's Commisioner. I met Sir Al a few times and he is very earnest, polite, serious. He always tries to find the best of any situation but his assessment of the treatment by the British Immigration Agency is scathing. The case studies read like something from Turkey in the 1970s.

http://www.newstatesman.com/law-and-reform/2008/09/children-detention-immigration

How did we reach this intolerable place? It must be a few Home Secretaries ago, Straw or Blunkett when the Labour Government was being baited by the Conservatives and the Mail for being a 'soft touch'. Well we've certainly dispelled that accusation.
This summer, I met up with an old friend who has lived in Spain for some years. It seemed very apt to be discussing the state of the nation while watching some cricket at the Oval. When I told him the stories of asylum seekers from being treated with chemo being deported he was dumbfounded. Turning back to game he said wistfully, " I thought this was England....and I thought it was a Labour Government."

It was Twenty (Five) Years Ago Today...

...since Neil Kinnock, then new Labour leader, made his rallying cry for party unity after Labour's worst post-war electoral performance. "Remember how you felt on that dreadful morning of the 10th of June," opined Neil. "Just remember how you felt then, and think to yourselves: 'June the 9th, 1983, never ever again will we experience that.'

Clarke was reciting those lines ad nauseum in every TV news studio this morning. It's not so surprising Clarkey should recall that speech so clearly, as he wrote it. Its message should be considered just as relevant today, Clarke has argued, for Labour face "utter destruction" at the next General Election and the party are sleepwalking into disaster.

The irony is our local boy (Norwich South) Charlie's outburst in the middle of Gordon's fightback week, aims to cause just the kind of disunity and instability he was warning against in the early eighties. However, there was a certain frankness and stating the bleeding obvious about his interviews and the original Newstatesman article. The piece was really putting to bed any thoughts of a Blairist faction rising up against Gord, "there is no coherent Blairite ideaology...no Blairite plot." However, amongst Clarke's few supportive voices were, predictably, Stephen Byers and Alan Milburn who probably wish there were such a plot.

Charlie's intervention follows close behind Alistair Darling 'moment of clarity' when he conceded economic times were as bad as they had been for 60 years. "People are pissed off, " he added laconically. People actually started to warm to AD for the first time since the opinion polls went south last year. I particularly enjoyed his opinion of ex-Scottish leader Wendy Alexander, "not at all likeable." (Wendy is notoriously out of touch, in 1997 campaign she saw a constituent's mobile phone and asked where you put the money in).

But at last some senior figures in the party are make a stab at being honest with the public. Straight-talking would look more attractive than Cameron and Osbourne's fatuous faux-shock at every Government report. It won't last of course, No.10 machine will soon grind Darling's honest approach down and Clarke has already been painted as, "bitter and twisted." Clarke, even giving time to local news prog, Look East, responded in a suitably curt manner, "Bitter and twisted, I may be. But I'm also right."