Dr Suzanne CulshawJul 3, 2023
RussInCheshire

Thread:

Years ago I worked as a tech advisor for NGOs, and alongside one client I ended up present at some meetings of ministers, and watched a press conference Tony Blair did. It was astonishing.

I won't bore you with details of the campaign I was part of, but Blair had a statement about a thing relating to it.

Around 60 journalists all wanted to ask about other things.

Jul 2, 2023 at 10:02pmWeb
Show threadRussInCheshireJul 2, 2023

He answered every question in detail. But sometimes he'd say "I'll come back to that" and I'd wonder what he was hiding.

But then 17 questions later a journo would ask something related, and Blair would remember the earlier question, answer them both, draw the connections, and ask both journalists if they had follow-up questions.

Show threadRussInCheshireJul 2, 2023

He wasn't hiding, he was waiting until both questions came up.

Questions came up about an embarrassing internal party argument. He didn't ignore it or shift blame, he just stood there and answered, then asked if that cleared things up, and invited follow-up questions.

One journo asked a 4-part question, and he answered all 4 parts in such detail it took perhaps 8 or 10 minutes to get through it.

Show threadRussInCheshireJul 2, 2023

He seemed (as far as I could tell) to know every bit of UK law, plus most Canadian law it related to, and the names and offices of every official.

He switched into French for French journalists, and after he'd answered, he translated the question and answer into English for the rest of us.

It went on for maybe 2 hours. It only stopped when the media had nothing left to ask. It was incredibly detailed and in-depth.

Show threadRussInCheshireJul 2, 2023

When I got home I thought: surely that will be on TV, it was extraordinary. But it wasn't on TV. No mention. When I next saw the client I'd been there with, they said "oh, it was normal, all PMs do it".

I'm sorry, but I can't imagine any current minister doing anything like it.

I'm not claiming Blair was unique, and my then-clients indicated he wasn't. This was what was expected from a PM: deep knowledge, incredible detail, facing everything head on. Blair, Major, Thatcher had all done it.

Show threadRussInCheshireJul 2, 2023

I guess we get the govt we vote for. And we repeatedly vote for lightweights.

Dunno why this just popped into my head.

Show threadAndy SmithJul 2, 2023
@RussInCheshire
Do we though? I've never voted for mendacious lightweight cunts, but they seem to have been foisted upon me.
Show threadYasmine HamidJul 2, 2023
@RussInCheshire fascinating: thanks for sharing
Show threadNeil ScottJul 2, 2023

@RussInCheshire

Sadly people are too easily impressed by smarmy charlatans. When Gove said we don’t need experts a large chunk of the population nodded in agreement. Comforting platitudes over unpleasant truth?

Show threadJim FRJul 2, 2023
@RussInCheshire I’ve heard this about Blair, but sadly, you’re right. The system helps, in my view: the “decent fellow” model is deeply flawed when liars and charlatans get hold of the ropes.
Show threadPaul Oldham 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 💛 🇺🇦Jul 2, 2023
@RussInCheshire Nicola Sturgeon always struck me as being very similar in actually answering questions journalists asked. It felt like you were being led by someone with a clue, not just a bluffer.
Show threadLeonie M. Smith StrawbridgeJul 2, 2023
@RussInCheshire I live in the SE Cambs constituency. We currently have the spineless Minister for Culture etc. Lucy Frazer as our MP. She's anyone's for a chocolate biscuit. Never resigned with the other 59 ministers who turned their back on Boris Johnson. She has a permanent groove worn across her arse as she never gets off the fence. She's proof that you could pin a blue rosette to a manure heap around here, and it would get selected as Tory candidate AND get elected to parliament.
Show threadGareth KitchenJul 2, 2023
@RussInCheshire I saw a parliamentary committee a few months back. John Major made a statement. It was so, so powerful and statesman like. Not my party, but we seem to have lost people of this stature in British politics, for sure.
Show threadGareth KitchenJul 2, 2023
@RussInCheshire I had to go and find it! https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/cc80ccfc-6554-473d-b55c-8b58a72a48d7
Parliamentlive.tv

Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee

Show threadWoollyMelJul 3, 2023
@gruff
Thanks for posting this.
Show threadGraham BodenJul 3, 2023

@gruff @RussInCheshire Have you listened to Major on The Rest Is Politics “Leading” podcast? He’s excellent … as was Blair a few weeks ago.

We desperately need some serious politicians and real leadership in this country

Show threadGareth KitchenJul 3, 2023
@therealgeebers No, that has passed me by. I'll check it out. Thanks. @RussInCheshire
Show threadGadgetGavJul 2, 2023
@RussInCheshire Now there seems to be glee in willful ignorance and outright lying.
Show threadSamuelJohnsonJul 3, 2023
@gadgetgav @RussInCheshire you forgot bovine stupidity
Show threadCathBJul 2, 2023
@RussInCheshire ‘We’ didn’t vote them in, other people did (who may be regretting it now, looking at their rising bills and everything being broken and all..), can’t help feeling angry at the people who voted the Tories back in 4 times in a row ☹️
Show threadRufus J. CooterJul 3, 2023

@RussInCheshire Knock-on effect/tragedy #1 of 9/11: everybody looked at the states, and realized that any dumb-ass can be a "statesman" if they just have the right photo-op, and that knowing anything, or knowing how to do anything, are waaaayyyy over-rated

Knock-on effect/tragedy #2 of 9/11: Genuinely competent, dedicated public servants lashed themselves to the anchor of Little Bushism

Mind, Blair was by no means without flaws, even before 9/11, but next to his successors? Pfft.

Show threadDarryl CatJul 3, 2023
@RussInCheshire dunno, it takes a lot of effort to be consistently this bad 😺
Show threadBeanie MacIntoshJul 3, 2023
@RussInCheshire In Scotland we get the government our neighbouring country votes for 🤷‍♀️
Show threadTrueGoodeJul 3, 2023

@RussInCheshire

Voter responsibility is underrated.
It would be interesting to see data for 'Middle Manager, Middle income, Conservative Voter, Brexit types who are in distress and if they realise that they have voted for their own despair.

Show threadAlex WeatherallJul 3, 2023
@RussInCheshire Yes. I think that's the difference, the current lot are not seasoned politicians. They've been voted in over Brexit, and the experienced ones were routed out. It's a sorry state of affairs, but as you say - we voted them in.
Show threadSiue AllenJul 3, 2023
@RussInCheshire
Yes lightweights. Dilatant politicians with good media representation/ hype (thank you Mr Murdoch) brings in the votes. People vote for the show and get a circus.
Show threadmrkhndyJul 3, 2023
@RussInCheshire PAY BACK THE £20,000 YOU GRIFTED
Show threadRussInCheshireJul 3, 2023

@mrkhndy Those were donations to help me fight a malicious law suit. As soon as I could, I donated £20,000 to the Trussell Trust foodbank charity, which is what I promised to do. And I posted proof of it on Twitter at the time.

It looks like you only joined here to say that - it's literally your only comment. So I'm not writing the above explanation for you, but for others. I'm blocking you.

Show threadPeter LeeJul 5, 2023
@RussInCheshire @mrkhndy it seems there are toss-pots on every social media site ☹️
Show threadmrkhndyJul 5, 2023
@peteralee @RussInCheshire thanks Peter
Show threadPeter LeeJul 5, 2023
@mrkhndy @RussInCheshire I wasn’t referring to Russ…
Show threadmrkhndyJul 5, 2023
@peteralee @RussInCheshire oh that’s not very nice :(
Show threadPeter LeeJul 5, 2023
@mrkhndy @RussInCheshire 🤷🏻‍♂️
Show threadmrkhndyJul 5, 2023
@peteralee @RussInCheshire ☹️
Show threadJamieJul 3, 2023
@RussInCheshire He's was a brilliant communicator - still is actually, but most have closed their ears to him.

It's quite rare to hear a UK politician put together a structured argument off the cuff. It's all sound bites.
Show threadKim Spence-Jones 🇬🇧😷Jul 2, 2023
@RussInCheshire It’s not just Blair. If you look at interviews that Wilson or Heath did for TV, for example, you see people intellectually engaged with the subject and genuinely interested in explaining their views. So much more adult than the current playground bullies.
Show thread⁂ Fish Id WardrobeJul 3, 2023
@KimSJ @RussInCheshire Arguably it was Blair himself that ended that – he championed the "sound bite".
Show threadKim Spence-Jones 🇬🇧😷Jul 3, 2023
@fishidwardrobe @RussInCheshire Blair was also the first PM in the modern era to show that you can still get re-elected after lying to the electorate. Not a great legacy!
Show threadSomersetWhovian 🇺🇦💙Jul 2, 2023
@RussInCheshire
Yep - I'm no cheerleader for Blair, but he could knock spots off the current crowd with one hand tied behind his back. The way the Tories fail at avoid answering questions, and outright ban certain journalists is just another demonstration of their talentless, cowardly, lying character.
Show threadSimon WolfJul 2, 2023

@RussInCheshire I’m sure I’ve heard Alastair Campbell talk about this on The Rest is Politics and about how MPs, and particularly PMs, are really bad at answering questions these days.

I hope that we eventually return to proper, grown up politicians but I’m not overly optimistic.

Show threadMysturjiJul 2, 2023
@RussInCheshire
IMHO, Blair and Thatcher were much alike in one respect: They got some things VERY WRONG INDEED! 🤬😡👿😠😖
But on the whole, they meant well.
You really can’t say that about the current bunch of clusterfucks.
Show threadDarwin WoodkaJul 2, 2023
@mysturji @RussInCheshire oh Thatcher most certainly did not mean well
Show threadMysturjiJul 3, 2023
@darwinwoodka @RussInCheshire
In her own, twisted way, I think she did, mostly. But very, very wrong.
Show threadCB Uí FoghlúJul 3, 2023

@RussInCheshire this is why the rest of the world was so gobsmacked at the Shag-Yeti being elected PM as well as the Orange Sexual Assaulter on the other side of the pond.
But especially us, here on an island stuck between the two. Neither seemed to be able to string a coherent sentence together.

And while he wasn't a PM, it's also why David Davis created such news by showing up with no paperwork or notes to the #Brexit meeting with Michel Barnier

Show threadProScience 🇪🇺Jul 3, 2023

@Cbfoley @RussInCheshire

This symbolic photo will appear in every history book.

Show threadPeter DownJul 3, 2023
@RussInCheshire Thank you for this thread. It's good to be reminded that it is possible to have competent (or better) people in government. We have ministers now who have no desire to be accountable and so say as little as possible and avoid answering questions as much as they can.
Show threadScott MillerJul 3, 2023

@RussInCheshire Great Thread Russ with lots of interesting comments from readers.

I was not a fan of Blair, to put it mildly. The Iraq war in particular will forever stain his tenure. I did have mixed feelings, because the Blair/Brown years also did much good & some credit is due.

Blair, Brown, Major, Thatcher & so many before them were 'conviction politicians'. They were sincere in pursuing their policies because they believed in them. Most of those in power since 2010 should be convicts.