Truthful Portrayal?

Channel 4 Television has had a thing about Tony Blair ever since he sprung himself on the Labour Party as its leader. On Thursday night we were shown the marvellous documentary "Tony Blair - Rock Star" which told of "Tony's" life from his last years at Fettes to his early years in London. It was a treat. Always good viewing, these programmes. Blair, or "Tony" as the voiceover kept saying in a slightly derogatory way, was well remembered by various people for his attempts to be a rock star based on Mick Jagger's persona. They had memories of his grin, his attempts to ingratiate, his eagerness, his pushiness, and his abilities in persuading those around him of the rightfulness of the project in hand.

So much of then could be seen in our present day. Much of this is the same, except that Tony Blair is a lot more experienced and more alert to the ways of the world. The gauche side has definitely gone. However, these programmes do well to show us that Blair is a character whose views are not necessarily based on dogma and doctrine, but more on opportunity and practicalities. Nothing wrong with that in itself, but it all comes across that Blair is a bit of a narcissist, always keen on manipulating the situation or subject matter to suit his own excitement.

Robin Cook was concerned enough to say that he thought Blair got a high out of the workings of politics. Being centre stage was his version of rock star status. Maybe no guitar but still strutting his stuff!

I have this vision of Tony Blair on To Tell The Truth. "Hi, my name's Tony Blair and I am Prime Minister of Great Britain. Once I wanted to be a rock star, oh yes, but I had to give it all up when I joined the Labour Party. My claim to fame is that I changed it completely without any problems to being New Labour, totally new, oh yes. I am the real Tony Blair. Yes, my name is Tony Blair".

http://www.channel4.com/music/ontv/T/tonyblair.html

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