Tony Blair

De Guardian:

'Knocking on heaven's door
Simon Hoggart's sketch

For those of us trying to burrow inside the mind of Tony Blair, these are fascinating times. If you caught the second part of Michael Cockerell's film Blair: The Inside Story on BBC2 this week, you will have spotted the bit where he replies, in effect, to Hugh Grant, who played a Blairish prime minister in Love, Actually. In the film Grant holds a joint press conference with the American president and takes the opportunity to give him a piece of his mind, saying that the Americans are all take and no give. In several cinemas the audience, apparently, stood up and cheered this scene.

Blair responded in a conference speech a while later. He knew, he said, that some people would like him to do the same thing. But then he would have - and I quoted him in a review of the programme - "the next day, the next year, a lifetime to contemplate the ruinous consequences of easy applause".
One might, I thought, also contemplate the fairly ruinous consequences of hardly listening to the British people at all. Anyhow, Michael Cockerell emailed me to point out that I had misquoted the speech. What Blair actually says is, "the next day, the next year, the next lifetime". I had let that go by, assuming it was a slip of the tongue.
But suppose it wasn't. Suppose he is looking to his next lifetime - not presumably in the Hindu sense, reborn as a peasant, or a cow, or a worm, depending on his track record here on earth - but in the next life, in heaven, in the presence of God, who we know he believes will judge his actions. I find that a little frightening.
· All the obituaries of Sir Charles Forte celebrated what a wonderful businessman he was, how from a solitary milk bar he built a catering empire worth nearly £4bn. And it was quite an achievement. The trouble is that I never enjoyed a meal at any of his establishments, from the Happy Eater chain to the poshest hotels. I recall one particularly gloomy dinner that was included in a weekend package at the THF hotel in Stratford. Everything on the plate spoke of second-rate ingredients, microwave ovens and portion control.
The fact is that whenever you eat out your meal is designed to please either you or an accountant. Not both. You can pay large sums for a dish that is all corner-cutting, thrown together in a kitchen which is understaffed to save money. But you may enjoy a delicious meal made with care and attention in a greasy spoon. We have a caff near us where the bacon sandwiches are made from thick juicy rashers - not the kind that ooze salt water - real butter, and bread cut freshly from a crusty loaf. I'd rather have that than anything I ever ate in one of Sir Charles's establishments.'

Lees verder: http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,,2025672,00.html