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Labour Party Conference 2002
by James Naughtie
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Day 2:
Reflections on Blair's speech
Leaders' speeches are strange and unruly beasts, which sometimes take on confusing and misleading shapes. They may sound good in the hall, and fade away by nightfall; or perhaps they stutter along and feel thin but by the next morning have found some unexpected substance, perhaps a phrase that enters the political language. This was Tony Blair's ninth, but which kind would it be?
Though it's easy to ridicule the performance element of these orations, they do act as a focus for the party and from time to time they find a kind of immortality. The lady's not for turning, said Margaret Thatcher and we have never forgotten it. Neil Kinnock's assault on Militant in Bournemouth in 1985 was a memorable blast. For previous generations, Macmillan, Gaitskell and Heath made conference speeches which help to define their leadership. Writing this within an hour of Blair leaving the stage (a dangerous time for judgements) I find myself suspecting that this speech may become one of the landmarks.
It had no phrase that will resonate down the years - "at our best when at our boldest" isn't Lincolnesque, after all - but it positions Blair with real clarity. Public service reform (reform which will confront vested interests in the unions, the professions and in Whitehall) will now be his stamp. He may succeed or he may fail, but it's now the spirit of his government.
In the hall, the speech was striking for the physical confidence with which it was delivered. A couple of tiny jokes and he was off, without the usual folksy preliminaries, into foreign affairs and his favourite theme of interdependence. And when he turned to domestic questions he was flowing. The natural comparison was with Thatcher, by the utter certainty which may not have swept away everyone in the hall (there will be lots of muttering about "betrayal" around the conference tonight ) but which marks Blair out as a Prime Minister who is irrevocably convinced of the path me is going to follow. There is no way back from this.
So it matters. This wasn't a ragbag of promises and emollient phrases designed to patch up a political problem, as some previous ones have been. It was unapologetic and clear. Blair will stand or fall by the changes that follow; such ambition invites challenge and scepticism and needs intellectual energy and commitment to survive. That energy has not always been a hallmark of his governments. After this speech, it must be.
The Winter Gardens arena is the great platform of British politics outside the Commons (despite the designer screens and sticking-out stages that now transform its shape). This is where the Thatcher revolution was described, where Labour melted down in the late seventies, where Wilson dominated, where Macmillan's resignation as Prime Minister was announced. Blair's speech of today may not have felt as dramatic as some of those events (not least because the stagemanaging has, paradoxically, drained the events of some excitement) but it may rank as one of the most important he will ever make.
No-one can say know they don't know what he stands for. And he knows he'll be judged by the results.
Day 1: Jim arrives in Blackpool
Day 3: Bill Clinton brings a touch of glamour to Blackpool
LINKS
- from 91热爆 News Online
NB. The 91热爆 cannot be held responsible for the content of external websites
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James Naughtie hard at work in the Outside Broadcast vehicle |
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The Today team in Blackpool |
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James Naughtie interviews David Blunkett at the Imperial Hotel, Blackpool |
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