This battle between Tony Blair and the rest of the Labour Party feels like Politics at its most absurd to me (the leaked memo of Blair's farewell tour was really beyond parody).
Gordon Brown might want to hold off popping the champagne corks just yet though. Westminster Blogger Guido has an interesting take on Blair's statement today. According to him Blair has left himself what he calls the Aznar option (where he would stand down as Party Leader BUT not as PM).
Here's Blair's statement:
"The next party conference in a couple of weeks will be my last party conference as party leader, the next TUC conference next week will be my last TUC - probably to the relief of both of us." (nothing about standing down as PM)
Interestingly, Blair has been rumoured to have asked the Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet office to look into the constitutionality of him remaining PM after resigning as Leader of the Labour Party.
Interesting theory, personaly, I still think he's toast.
For more on this story see here & here.
1 comment:
Glad Andy has started a thread on this as it gives me a chance to indulge my own particular obsession.
Amidst all the ink and opinion that has greeted TB's statement yesterday, there is one small detail that has been (perhaps quite reasonably) overlooked:
The Case of the Mysterious Conference
Rushing up the stairs to 221B Baker Street I found Holmes sitting by the fireside.
"Tony Blair has announced that the next TUC will be his last," said Holmes, a faint smile playing around the corners of his mouth.
"But that makes no sense," I exclaimed, "The TUC is a body, not an event. Why, it would be like saying the next Labour Party would be his last. Surely the Prime Minister meant TUC conference."
Holmes leapt to his feet, gleefully.
"Precisely!" he said striding towards his beloved imac. His long tapered fingers swiftly moved the mouse and summoned up a series of web pages. I realised that his initial remark had been no idle comment and that he had been brooding on this since the announcement had first been made.
"Here is the full text of Tony Blair's statement as reproduced by The Times and The Telegraph. As you can, see Mr. Blair did indeed say that the the next TUC would be his last. The word conference is ommitted"
I could sense that Holmes was trying to lead me somewhere, but I still could not fathom the significance of what he was showing me.
"Perhaps the transcript distributed to the newspapers was faulty," I suggested.
Holmes nodded absently while clicking his mouse with characteristic determination.
"I thought so too. But this video feed makes it quite clear that those august publications have reproduced the exact words used by the first Lord of the Treasury in that North London primary school."
I watched the videogram but could find nothing untoward.
"Dash it all, Holmes. I thought the man did remarkably well under the circumstances. It looks like no more than a slip of the tongue in the heat of the moment."
Holmes leant back and massaged the bridge of his aquiline nose.
"Quite." he said. "A careless ommission, but nothing more." I grew impatient with Holmes' games.
"Well, then why the deuce have you been comparing all these transcripts? They all say the same thing."
Holmes fixed me a penetrating stare.
"All, but one." he said. "Look at this transcripit from the BBC's news website."
I scanned the by now familar passage with its apology for the party's behaviour and acknowledgement of Cabinet pressure. And then I saw it! The word conference had been mysteriously inserted into the phrase about 'the next TUC'. I blinked stupidly, but the word remained, shimmering in the glow of Holmes' computer screen. An eerie silence filled the room. At last I found my voice.
"But that can't be," I stammered. "A word has been inserted into what pupports to be a full and accurate reproduction of the Prime Minster's words." I searched for an explanation.
"Perhaps it was merely in the interests of clarity," I offered.
"Perhaps," said Holmes, "But then where are the parentheses, square or otherwise? You can see here that when Reuters felt the need to explain that TUC was the common appellation of the Trades Union Congress they kept this information firmly within a robust pair of brackets."
Holmes reached for his deerstalker.
"No, Watson. Someone has seen fit to protect Mr. Blair from what you rightly have suggested was an innnocent slip of the tongue. The question is 'who'. And 'why'!"
With that Holmes strode through the door. I remained insensible for a moment, before regaining my composure and joining Holmes on Baker Street where he had already hailed a hansom cab.
Read the thrilling conclusion in the next issue of The Strand magazine.
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