A Strange Book is Slammed Shut...
In the middle of The Simpsons, as the commercial break begins, a strange voice interrupts...
Yikes! David Blunkett has resigned after all. He is now on television giving a quiet and meek little interview, shedding tears and "taking responsibility" for the fast-tracked Visa over and over again...yet there is a strange lack of any guilt here. He has ridden a weird ride for the last two and a half weeks, trying to keep control but repeatedly hitting oil patches...and this resignation is unexpected, given Blair's support.
Already the resignation is being portrayed as a noble act...and we are now being told that, like Boris Johnson's exit from his party, this appears to turn on a single point. He denied that the Visa was fast-tracked, and we now know that it was. It was not Blunkett's fault, we are told, but it was his department. What are we to make of that? Is this really the whole story? For a career that has frequently resembled an unstoppable and arrogant armoured truck, for it to spin off into the ditch on such a minor B-road is bizarre. Maybe we have to look at the environment itself, rather than the man. Blunkett has lost many friends in the last month...his autobiography was hemlock in the tea of too many people at the wrong time.
Oh dear, footage of Michael Howard causing bad music to be played in the Commons...mocking Tony Blair about the Blunkett autobiography, leading to a scene of chaos and people turning their heads in embarrassment...has Howard now got what he wanted? He will be polled for his reaction soon enough and he will doubtless be sorry to see him go, paying tribute to his political nous... The stupid, creepy man. The Conservatives fucked up by installing that one on their machines; they mistook brutal lunacy and crowd-pleasing for strength, and when the bubbles began to pop and his eyes started to spin in their sockets, they lauded him for his ability to scare the opposition. They may as well have elected a Halloween pumpkin lantern...at least they could have made soup afterwards.
And now David Davies, shadow Home Secretary, is on, claiming he feels sorry for Blunkett and that "there is no pleasure in this"...his arrogant face is leering out of the television as he scrambles for the high ground. But his eyes betray him. There is victory in his expression and a subtle sense of derision in his mannerisms.
So...I was wrong when I said that he would not resign. But I was right when I said "all they need to do is to catch him in one big lie for them to cite the Boris Johnson precedent; that is, shag around all you like, just don't lie to the faithful". These events are a reminder that no matter how well armed is the man, it is his environment which will result in his death or glory. I am not sorry to see him go because he has made some inexcusable political decisions, and to hell with how he is seen by his constituants.
And the news is over and the summary says that Blunkett "leaves his office with his integrity intact..."
Well, perhaps. This may well prove to have been the best time for him to get out of the belly of the beast and concentrate on his domestic matters without any mud sticking to his record. Leaving now means that he will be forever seen in a "what if" light... he could have been a prime minister... he could have been a contender... a great man brought low by tittle tattle... Ah, whatever. He has gone and has every chance of making a comeback soon enough. It's just a shame nobody in the home office remembered to shove Blunkett's ID cards up his arse as he left the building.
Yikes! David Blunkett has resigned after all. He is now on television giving a quiet and meek little interview, shedding tears and "taking responsibility" for the fast-tracked Visa over and over again...yet there is a strange lack of any guilt here. He has ridden a weird ride for the last two and a half weeks, trying to keep control but repeatedly hitting oil patches...and this resignation is unexpected, given Blair's support.
Already the resignation is being portrayed as a noble act...and we are now being told that, like Boris Johnson's exit from his party, this appears to turn on a single point. He denied that the Visa was fast-tracked, and we now know that it was. It was not Blunkett's fault, we are told, but it was his department. What are we to make of that? Is this really the whole story? For a career that has frequently resembled an unstoppable and arrogant armoured truck, for it to spin off into the ditch on such a minor B-road is bizarre. Maybe we have to look at the environment itself, rather than the man. Blunkett has lost many friends in the last month...his autobiography was hemlock in the tea of too many people at the wrong time.
Oh dear, footage of Michael Howard causing bad music to be played in the Commons...mocking Tony Blair about the Blunkett autobiography, leading to a scene of chaos and people turning their heads in embarrassment...has Howard now got what he wanted? He will be polled for his reaction soon enough and he will doubtless be sorry to see him go, paying tribute to his political nous... The stupid, creepy man. The Conservatives fucked up by installing that one on their machines; they mistook brutal lunacy and crowd-pleasing for strength, and when the bubbles began to pop and his eyes started to spin in their sockets, they lauded him for his ability to scare the opposition. They may as well have elected a Halloween pumpkin lantern...at least they could have made soup afterwards.
And now David Davies, shadow Home Secretary, is on, claiming he feels sorry for Blunkett and that "there is no pleasure in this"...his arrogant face is leering out of the television as he scrambles for the high ground. But his eyes betray him. There is victory in his expression and a subtle sense of derision in his mannerisms.
So...I was wrong when I said that he would not resign. But I was right when I said "all they need to do is to catch him in one big lie for them to cite the Boris Johnson precedent; that is, shag around all you like, just don't lie to the faithful". These events are a reminder that no matter how well armed is the man, it is his environment which will result in his death or glory. I am not sorry to see him go because he has made some inexcusable political decisions, and to hell with how he is seen by his constituants.
And the news is over and the summary says that Blunkett "leaves his office with his integrity intact..."
Well, perhaps. This may well prove to have been the best time for him to get out of the belly of the beast and concentrate on his domestic matters without any mud sticking to his record. Leaving now means that he will be forever seen in a "what if" light... he could have been a prime minister... he could have been a contender... a great man brought low by tittle tattle... Ah, whatever. He has gone and has every chance of making a comeback soon enough. It's just a shame nobody in the home office remembered to shove Blunkett's ID cards up his arse as he left the building.
posted by Jamie at 7:11 PM
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