Never Apologise, Never Explain
‘THE Government’s vocational course in politicking advises the would-be Blairite to ”keep his/her teeth clean and white”, to ”refrain from smoking, snorting and injecting” and to ”always look humble and caring”.
| Ken gives Tony one of his famed ‘finger crunchers’ |
Anyone sticking to the script will achieve an A grade and a complimentary ‘access all areas’ pass to Cherie Blair’s next speaking engagement; anyone failing will have the word ”Livingstone” tattooed on their forehead.
You see, there is nothing worse then being a Livingstone, a Ken, a Red Ken, a newt fancier. And this is because Ken has questionable teeth and will not apologise.
As the Independent says, the London mayor has been instructed by everyone from the Prime Minister down to say he’s sorry for his foolish and offensive remarks made to a Jewish reporter working for the Evening Standard – he compared Oliver Finegold to a concentration camp guard.
But Ken still refuses to say the magic word.
The journalists who flocked to yesterday’s press conference expected to hear the unlovely one say sorry. He’d stop short of flogging himself with a birch twig, but he’d be sorry. Right?
Er, wrong. ”I have nothing to apologise for,” said Ken.
He then launched into a 35-minute ”display of defiance and rhetoric” in which he spoke about what he sees as the Daily Mail’s role as ”leading advocates of anti-Semitism in Britain for half a century”.
Although he did concede: ”While it is true the Mail group no longer smears Jews as bringing crime and disease to the UK, it is only because they have moved on.”
And, according to Ken, the group has moved on to ”pandering to racism” against Irish and blacks and then raging against asylum-seekers and Muslims.
For cuddly Ken the best form of defence seems to be an all-out attack.
And, to the Telegraph’s mind, it’s a tactic that calls to mind – of all people – Benjamin Disraeli, the 19th century Tory prime minister, whose first rule was: ”Never apologise, never explain.”
Only, Ken has explained. And even if his explanation is not to everyone’s liking, it at least marks him out as an interesting character in a mineral water pond of political mediocrity.’
Posted: 23rd, February 2005 | In: Uncategorized Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
