Tony Blair’s Summer Holiday

HOW long is your summer holiday? Yesterday our MPs packed their little read boxes and broke up for 76 days.

And the Telegraph watched them leave. The paper tells us that early next month, Tony Blair will jet off for a fact finding mission to Barbados, that little bit of Britain nestled in the warm Caribbean waters.

Tony understands the value of the Commonwealth and will shore up Britain’s links with one of its former colonies over red snapper and mosquito spray.

But not everyone is going as far as Tony and the Blairios. The Times produces a map of MPs’ holiday destinations. Entitled “WE’RE ALL GOING ON A SUMMER HOLIDAY”, we learn who is going where.

Sarah Teather, the LibDems letter-box high MP, is off to Croatia. This is interesting. Sarah prides herself on being local and the thinking is that this trip will enable her to more fully understand Croats who live in her London constituency.

Many others are travelling to Europe. And, if the map is correct, the most popular holiday destination is France – more popular even than Scotland where Gordon Brown is to holiday.

And David Cameron is also off to Scotland. Or is he? The Telegraph has the Tory leader and his family heading off to Jura, off the west of Scotland. We learn that, “For the past decade, they [The Camerons] have enjoyed holidays at a lodge owned by his wife’s stepfather, Viscount Astor, where Mr Cameron fishes for sea trout and mackerel, and swims in the sea.”

That sounds deeply patriotic and wholesome. Who knows, one or two of the locals may even be inspired by seeing Dave in his tartan waders and matching swimming trunks and vote Tory at the next election.

But over in the Times we learn that Dave is off to “the Mediterranean”. This is a rather vague destination, and while we imagine Dave touring the entire sea and its bordering lands, even 76 days is surely not long enough to see it all. Perhaps he’s going to sort things out in Lebanon and has been advised not to say too much?

But, as we say, more are off to France. And that includes our Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett. The Scotsman says Margaret is to embark on a gastronomic tour of Europe in her caravan.

While the Middles East teeters on the brink of war, while Iran foments mass carnage, the Foreign Secretary will be tucking into some fine wine and delicious canapés. We wish her well.

And we wonder who much better the world would be if the likes of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took a holiday. A very, very, very long one…

Posted: 26th, July 2006 | In: Uncategorized Comment | TrackBack | Permalink