I have been watching the PM's speech to the Oban Labour Party Conference. Here are some initial impressions.
As ever, you have to say that Mr Blair is a class act. He manages to combine the personal touch with a sweeping policy vision, an ability that few politicians possess. The BBC preceded his speech with excerpts from this morning's speeches by Bristo Muldoon and Tom McCabe (the Laurel and Hardie of Scottish Labour, but without the jokes) which only served to emphasise the quality of Tony Blair. (Although I did think that Stephen Purcell, the Glasgow labour leader, was quite impressive.)
The PM managed to get away from the politics of fear, which has previously dominated Labour's reaction to the SNP. He sought to emphasise the opportunities of the union, with the prospect of Scotland becoming more prosperous within the UK, highlighting the benefits of partnership. The SNP was dismissed as pursuing the politics of grievance - it's all England's fault, etc, as well as advocating 19th century nationalist policies for a 21st century nation.
The PM was also remarkably complimentary about Jack McConnell - he is straight, he sorts out his own problems, he has made Scotland better, you can't ask more from a leader, etc. (Needless to say, the First Minister loved it; he was like a cat that had swallowed a bucketful of cream.)
Nevertheless, Blair does rather resemble a Chinese banquet: it tastes good while you are eating it, but by the next day you wonder where the substance was. We'll see what tomorrow's papers say...
No comments:
Post a Comment