Tony Blair Is A Sheepshagger
IT’S an old joke, but a good one, nonetheless. Martin Samuel, writing in the Times, says this of Tony Blair’s legacy:
Jones the Sheepshagger is sitting in the corner of the pub, crying into his beer and bemoaning his fate. “Did you see that library in the town square?” he asks a passing stranger. “I built that, with my own hands. But do they call me Jones the Book? They do not.
“And that hospital on the hill? When I sold my business, I donated that out of the kindness of my heart. Half of my profits it took. But do they call me Jones the Doc? They do not.
“Look at the school, the finest educational establishment in all Wales. It was nothing before I came here. A patch of land. I paid for it all. But do they call me Jones the teacher? They do not.
“I f*** one sheep . . .” And, yes, I know it is rather late in the day to comment on the passing of our Prime Minister (and maybe too early for crude jokes, although it made me laugh), but I have been scouring the political obituaries and still no mention of Tony Blair the Sheepshagger. And, metaphorically, that’s what he is. Even had he delivered on his promise of education, education, education (which he did not). Even had he reformed the National Health Service to any recognisable level (which he did not, unless you are a well-rewarded newspaper columnist whose salary package will almost certainly include private healthcare, so the NHS is nothing more than a gateway to a referral and a nice private clinic with no waiting list, free parking, landscaped gardens and a wine list for your visitors, thanks very much).
Even had he made this country, and the world, a safer, more peaceful place (which he did not, unless you count his admirable resolve over Northern Ireland). Even had he achieved all of these things, and more he would still be Blair the Biggest Foreign Policy Mistake In 60 Years And Don’t Tell Me That We Won The War But Lost The Peace, Sunshine, Because There Was Never Any Doubt That The War Would Be Won And The Whole Point Of Objecting To It In The First Place Beyond Basic Illegality Was The Certainty Of Terrible Human Cost And The Belief That PostInvasion Iraq Would Be Unstable, Ungovernable And Worse Off.
Not all baaaad, then…
Posted: 15th, May 2007 | In: Reviews Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
