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An insider view of the not-so beautiful game
Political tattle-tale books like this are turning us off democracy, writes Gerald Isaaman, but still we lap it up
The Spin Doctor’s Diary:Inside Number Ten with New Labour by Lance Price
Hodder and Stoughton, £16.99 order this book
A BBC radio programme about the Thatcher era recently came to the solid conclusion that the Tories are now in the political wilderness because they never understood the changing effects their policies would have on the country at large.
Hence Michael Howard’s now remarkable addendum that it will take a devastating slump before the Conservatives, no matter who is chosen as their new leader, have a chance of getting into government again.
If that is the big picture, then why are we so obsessed with the tittle tattle of politics today, in particular the backroom Downing Street gossip that inspires national newspaper editors to devote acres of space to bile and bluster in which wild speculation is turned into fact?
The question is worth asking with the publication of Lance Price’s new book, which has created headlines as deadly as the sinking of the Titanic yet really will cause rarely a ripple of any lasting importance.
That, alas, is where we are today with a daily battle going on between the government and the media in what is called the Westminster circus, much of which doesn’t affect our lives directly or even importantly, apart from the fact that it demeans politicians and journalists alike and has an undermining effect on whetherpeople will continue to vote or prefer to dump the democratic system in despair.
Nevertheless, the fact remains that Price, the former BBC journalist who became number two to Alastair Campbell at Downing Street in 1998, provides a fascinating backdrop to the political scene and, like suckers, we lap it up.
It’s not that Price dishes any dirt that truly sticks, the public largely understands the unworthy tricks of political scavangers who produce hyped sensations that disappear the following dawn.
He actually admires Tony Blair, Campbell and many others and tries to paint a picture of government on the hoof amid a sea of inexperience and hope. Reporting politics has become a game but, alas, not a very beautiful one.
Price is not as thorough or as balanced as Blair’s chief speechwriter turned teaching assistant at Islington Green School Peter Hyman’s earlier tome – Price confesses his mistakes and says he may even have got some of it wrong – but his insider’s view is nothing but entertaining if not totally enlightening.
insight into the great humiliating Frank Dobson affair over the London mayoralty when tricky Ken Livingstone bedazzled the party and won with public acclaim.
Many have asked why local MP Dobbo actually took on the task when he was doing so well as Health Secretary, yet, according to Price, there were moments when he actually believed he could win – and there were two moments when Blair twisted his arm, even to the extent of inviting Dobbo’s wife Janet to Number 10.
In the end, Blair under-estimated Livingstone, realised that Mo Mowlam should have been the candidate to defeat Ken but left it too late to promote her, probably against Dobbo’s desires anyway.
Even so, Price disparages the beloved Mo, declaring: “Mo is playing a ridiculous game, more concerned with her own popularity. Shereally is useless.”
At the same too he reveals that Dobbo could have had any prize for his sacrifice, a seat in the Lords, life as an ambassador, anything. Yet such was his hurt that, his pride in tatters, he sulked off to snipe from the backbenches when he could have continued to do so much good. He needs to tell his story one day.
There are endless other stories to enjoy, especially the extraordinary tale of the defection of Tory MP Shaun Woodward to Labour, which was Price’s big coup.
Even Cherie Blair was dragged in because Shaun insisted on talking to someone who was “human”.
However, another about Campbell and pop star Britney Spears gives you a clue as to their general level. Price reports: “AC won a £200 bet by getting the Evening Standard to splash today with ‘Britney Supports Labour’ on the strength of a signed photo to him – she had spelt his name wrong – when she probably had no idea who she was signing it for.”
Price indeed may well be seen as a traitor whose gay abandon with loyalty has earned him five minutes notoriety and an armful of cash, a symbol perhaps of the Thatcher mentality of greed.
Unfortunately, politics doesn’t immediately provide the perfection people desire, and the press feeds on that.
John Humphrys cries out that the media has the right to get it wrong. The trouble is that they do. And books like this only add to the conflagration when the world is facing too many real dangers.
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