I attended a dinner in London on Monday evening, where former prime minister Tony Blair was the speaker.
He focussed almost his entire speech on Brexit, and I doubt if he said much that all in the room hadn’t heard before.
In a nutshell, May’s deal is a poor one, because it means the UK is still a law taker without being a law maker. The better option would be the ‘Norway’ model, as this allows us to maintain membership of the Single Market and the Customs Union – however, we are then bound by the same free movement rules that govern us now. Staying in the EU is by far our best bet economically. If parliament can’t sort it out, he advocates a ‘people’s vote’.
So, nothing remarkable in what he said. But the way he said it? It reminded me of why he was the most successful Labour Party leader ever and what a masterful communicator he is.
The fact is, had the Remain campaign or indeed the current day Labour Party had an orator of the calibre of Blair, there is no way ‘Leave’ wins the EU referendum; and there is no way that the Tories in their existing state would be clinging on to power.
Love him or loathe him, Blair remains the most effective political communicator on our shores. And on the question of our EU membership, his analysis is spot on.
Kissing with confidence
The bizarre ‘controversy’ of weather it is right to kiss your kids on the lips reared its ugly head again this week, I think via a tweet from the odious Piers Morgan. I understand that this self- publicist publishes such daft remarks to get a rise sometimes, but it really does irritate me when people try and dictate to others how they should show affection towards their children.
If I want to kiss my kids on the lips its my business, and Piers Morgan and co can bugger off with their sanctimonious claptrap.
It’s those children who suffer from abuse, or who live in poverty, that we should be focussing on; not this tabloid nonsense peddled by Morgan and sadly picked up by at least one of our local newspapers this week.
My message to parents. Kiss and cuddle your kids as much as you can. They grow up much too fast.
