Tuesday 1 September 2015

Veterans and roadblocks

The Labour leadership contest seems destined to provide more fun for the spectators such as myself for the remaining days before the result is announced.  Last Saturday, we had the latest Blair attempt to assist stop Corbyn’s campaign.
It demonstrated yet again (not that we needed a further demonstration) Blair’s unerring ability to present his own opinions as incontrovertible fact and everyone else’s as fantasy.  He knows that he’s right; no evidence is therefore required (although if really pressed, he could probably find someone to draw up a dossier ‘proving’ his case).
He lambasts those who would fight an election on a manifesto similar to that of 1983 when Labour lost the election, demanding instead that members support one of the three candidates offering a version of the highly successful 2010 manifesto, on which Labour obviously won the election (although I must have missed that result somehow).
My favourite passage was this one:
“It is like a driver coming to a roadblock on a road they’ve never travelled before and three grizzled veterans say: “Don’t go any further, we have been up and down this road many times and we’re warning you there are falling rocks, mudslides, dangerous hairpin bends and then a sheer drop.”
The three ‘grizzled veterans’ are obviously Blair, Brown and Kinnock, but another part of history that I seem to have missed is the bit where all three of them in turn tried the Jeremy Corbyn route and found it wanting.  The tricks age plays with the memory, eh?  But in the version of history that I seem to remember living through, all three of the grizzled veterans ‘knew’ how bad the road was without ever needing to try it. 
I can understand his frustration though - why, oh why do these people not simply believe what they’re told by those who’ve never, ever been caught out making anything up?

3 comments:

glynbeddau said...

Maybe the task is to make the road safe

Cneifiwr said...

I seem to remember that the roads travelled by Brown and Kinnock were pretty rocky, and both ended suddenly when their battle buses drove off a cliff.

Spirit of BME said...

“Fun” is the key word here, and I hope Brother Corbyn (BC) wins on a canter; he will be a breath of fresh air and will provide many hours of fun, as his policies are completely tonto.
Veterans like old Generals are always wanting to fight the last war, but when BC wins his policies will not be a threat to the State, as they will find ways to neutralise him, but what is perplexing the chaps in the clubs down in St James is, will he abide by the agreed conventions that everybody in Parliament seem to sign up to, or will he upturn the boat and blab about the effectiveness of the Head of State – Oh, dear.