David Miliband (5)

It's been a while since I've written about Miliband, and he was initially pretty quiet after he became Foreign Secretary, but he's been in the news quite a bit recently, especially since the Russia/Georgia stand-off started.

David Hearst in the Guardian today was damning, deriding him as 'blissfully unaware' of the history between the two countries, and accusing him of 'stepping blindly and foolishly into a minefield' and 'making vacuous commitments to a country he knows nothing about, and which he is in no position to honour'.
The blogger AppallingStrangeness is brutal, asking 'Does anyone else feel slightly embarrassed when they read about David Miliband prancing about on the international stage?' And goes on to describe him as having the 'general charisma of a snail crushed underfoot'. One of the most important jobs in government has been given to someone 'the political equivalent of Adrian Mole'.
Certainly he's seemed clearly out of his depth, and of course it's the first time he's been tested in a significant international situation of geopolitical importance. He's persistently labelled a 'Blairite' and therefore someone with leadership ambitions and he was suspected of mounting a leadership challenge recently after an article he wrote for the Guardian which didn't even mention Brown. With the undoubted forthcoming demise of the Government in the next couple of years it's difficult to see where he goes next - down with the sinking ship, I suspect. Whatever happens, he's dead meat, though young enough to rise from the ashes in the distant future, though in what form - who can say?

The West Wing

I'm working my way through series 5 of The West Wing at the moment, as my son, another addict, and has the entire series on DVD has lent me both 5 & 6, and he needs them back soon to lend to newly-addicted friends. He's coming over from Ireland next week so I need to finish it then. So I'm furiously watching as much as possible.
Of course, I saw them when they were first screened on Channel 4, and when they migrated to More4, the digital channel. Apparently it achieved low ratings, but I'm also very aware that the following it attracted, small though it may have been, was passionately loyal. A long-running thread appeared on the Guardian messageboard which started at the beginning of the third series and continued until long past the seventh series, the last.
I have to say that I loved it from the start. It presents a picture of US politics as it might exist in an alternative universe. Jed Bartlet, the president, is a liberal, Democrat, Nobel prize-winning academic, surrounded by equally-liberal heartfelt Democrats who believe, above all, in the Constitution, to which they are dedicated to upholding. All of them have their faults - Bartlet's is a patrician arrogance, which comes from his impeccable liberalism, and some of the most entertaining episodes concern his principles coming up against reality.
One of my favourite characters is Toby, the Press Secretary; often conflicted, tortured, bad-tempered, but with his heart firmly in the right place, he gives the series a welcome acerbity.
The First Lady, is a card-carrying feminist, whose beliefs often clash with the realities of government, and some of the best episodes concern very real moral, political and ethical dilemmas. A solution is rarely found, and this is the whole point. In a democratic republic there are never any easy answers, and this is the series' glory. The best episodes dramatise unresolvable problems and compromises have to be reached; this is, and must be, always better than the alternative. The US is portrayed as the best form of government there is, with all its imperfections, a picture of government as it should function, not, of course, as it actually does.
The acting is top-notch; Martin Sheen plays Bartlet, making a character who might have been insufferable in other hands, deeply human. We don't always like him very much, but we see why he's President, the buck always stopping at his door.
Religion also plays a part, which would be unthinkable in this country - Bartlet, a Catholic, is often seen tussling with God, frequently arguing with Him, dramatising the very real battles between Faith and politics. This was seen most effectively in an episode when Bartlet, after the funeral of his beloved secretary, who was killed in an accident, standing alone in the cathedral after everyone else had gone, contemptuously lit a cigarette, then threw it to the ground, angrily stamping it out.
After four series, Aaron Sorkin, the originator of the series, left, and his sharp, witty scripts went with him. It was never quite the same after, but the remaining three series were still a treat, following the fortunes of the presidency as it gradually acquired 'lame duck' status. As the government wound down it all began to fall apart, and soul-searching, self-interested careerism and fear began to take hold among the staff, their individual destinies becoming compelling.
A new President was elected at the end, the implausible Latino Santos. I don't know anyone who didn't prefer his rival Republican, played with consummate finesse by Alan Alda.
Its lack of cynicism was what was most refreshing about it - instead of depicting politicians as venal and self-serving, they were idealistic, with the best of intentions, if flawed in their execution. I miss it badly, but the DVDs of the 7 series remain compulsive viewing. I always watch it with the subtitles switched on so as not to miss any of the dialogue, which is unparalleled anywhere else.
The most interesting Presidential election for years gets going in 2008, and Barack Obama, the most West Wing-like candidate imaginable, is one of the favourites. The West Wing has therefore become even more essential, and perhaps more realistic after the catastrophic Bush regime, which, with any luck, may seem a bad dream by this time next year.

David Miliband (again)

It's time to check out David Miliband again, as the Labour Party conference ends. He's just started a new blog at last - he kept one while he was Environment minister and there was a long hiatus after he became Foreign secretary. but at last a new one is up and running, complete with YouTube videos.
There's been pages of publicity in the press in the last week or so - profiles, transcripts of speeches etc etc. Something that stands out is his ackowledgement that military intervention isn't always the solution; that Iraq was divisive in the party and country. Good intentions weren't enough.
He's clearly distancing himself from the Blair regime, as I expected he would, plus he's reinventing himself as a serious, heavyweight politician. This has meant talking slowly and ponderously in an attempt to seem profound. Nevertheless, he hasn't quite been able to rid himself of the Fotherington-Thomas 'hello birds, hello, bees' impression he always manages to give. There's a feeling that emanates from him that if we were all a bit nicer to each other the world would be a better place. This is certainly true, but it's not politics, which is, and always has been , dirty in the extreme.

Alistair Darling

Darling was always going to be Chancellor in a Brown government and so it has proved. I've had my eye on him since Labour first came to power - I clearly remember a programme (I can't remember which channel it was on) in the summer of 1997 which consisted of a cinema-verite -style look at the Treasury as it began establishing itself. Darling was a junior Treasury minister - someone said 'We can't do that', and Darling replied 'We're the government - we can do whatever we want.' It may have been a rush of blood to his head caused by the excitement of coming to power, but it stayed with me.
There was a piece in The Times yesterday on Darling - what a nice, unassuming person he was, how unlike Blair, humble and modest etc.etc. We shall see....power does things to people. Another politician to watch, along with Miliband, though Gordon will hold on to the reins very tightly.

David Miliband (3)

It's time to turn my attention to young Mr Miliband again on the occasion of his appointment as Foreign Secretary. I knew it wouldn't be long before he'd get something really important, and Brown gave him his reward for not standing against him. And it appears that Miliband made absolutely the right decision not to stand - he would have been dead in the water by now if he had as he would undoubtedly have lost. Now he's got a chance to shine - Foreign Secretary isn't the graveyard for ambition that Home Secretary almost invariably turns out to be. He won't have an easy ride - Iraq, the ever-expanding EU, the thorny question of our relationship with the US, all are potential banana-skins, but he's made all the right noises so far. Distancing himself from the previous regime for a start, and sounding humble and non-belligerent. Anyway we shall see. His blog's been suspended for the moment and I wonder if it'll come back to life - I would think it'll be difficult for him to muse in public in the same way when he's having to deal with matters of dealing with international security, it's not the same as recycling and climate change. I shall continue to watch his progress with interest - he hasn't disappointed me yet. He displays a wide-eyed innocence in public but underneath I believe there's calculation and steely intelligence. But I'm prepared to be proved wrong.

Blair's farewell

So Blair has gone - I've seen snippets of his last day, Prime Minister's Questions, then his departure from Downing Street with Cherie to see the Queen. Now Gordon Brown is on the radio giving his first speech. Somehow it feels momentous, more than I'd expected. Things really are radically different now from 1997. I remember how optimistic we all were, the euphoria. It really did seem as if a dark cloud had lifted. For those of us who brought up children during the Thatcher years it had been a punishing time.
Whatever one thinks of Blair, and I have to say my feelings are very, very mixed, he is an extraordinary performer, and that's the key - performer. He knew how to do that more than anything, and Brown will be completely different. I'm deeply conflicted in my opinions of Brown - I don't trust him an inch, but appreciate what he's done, for pensioners for example. My mother is vastly better off than she was under the Tories, when she received a pittance. Tax credits have helped people enormously, but the way it's been developed and administered has been a fiasco. It seems that Brown just gave the orders and left it to a bunch of management consultants to devise the structure. It works well for people with steady jobs, whose income doesn't fluctuate, or for people who live on benefit, but for people with chaotic lives, or the self-employed, or for those who major changes in their circumstances, it works very badly.
Anyway, we shall see. He isn't going to be able to predict events to the same extent, so it'll be interesting to see how he responds to things he can't control. This government has been the first one that's been run by people of my generation and I can't say they've made an especially good job of it. Not better than previous generations anyway. Spin and soundbites, while they existed under the previous government, really took off under this one. The enormously enjoyable BBC-4 comedy, The Thick of It had it nailed.
I'm wondering how different things are going to be; Brown has rising interest rates, what is now becoming a crisis in housing, Iraq, and climate change to contend with. I can't say I'm going to miss Blair - it's definitely time for him to go, but I have a funny feeling the Brown era may not turn out to be straightforward. And of course htere's always the unpredictable; I always keep in mind Harold Macmillan's reply when asked which factors had the greatest impact on his political life; 'events, dear boy, events'.

David Miliband (2)

I worry a bit that I'm becoming slightly obsessed with Mr Miliband, but I'm not alone. The papers all seem convinced that he's a leader-in-waiting. After another article the other day about him I took the opportunity of looking at his website which contains his blog. Very weird. He's got an extraordinary Fotherington-Thomas-like quality about him (Hello birds! Hello bees!) and seems enchanted and delighted with his status. I wonder though. There's a ferocious ambition in his eyes which bely all that, and his family background shouldn't be dismissed. His father was Ralph Miliband, who I remember as a very left-wing academic, a founding member of the 1950s' New Left. People brought up in ferociously left-wing backgrounds often react against them, but the commitment and zeal endemic to that background still remains. How extraordinary that Ralph's 2 sons (Ed is also a New Labour MP and has long been a close associate of Gordon Brown's) should be at the heart of New Labour, a body I'm sure Ralph would have despised.
Anyway - I shall continue my Miliband-watching. It's going to be very interesting to see how he handles the next few years as I can see some bloody times ahead for the party.

David Miliband

David Miliband is regularly touted as someone who might challenge Gordon Brown for the leadership of the Labour Party. I doubt very much if he will, but that doesn't mean he won't ever lead the party. During the live broadcast of Brown delivering his budget to Parliament a couple of weeks ago, the camera rested on a group of MPs standing at the back. The group were like Shakespearean courtiers and Miliband, in the middle, looked watchful, dangerous, his dark eyes looking intently and penetratingly at Brown. He will, I believe, either end up executed, or as the executioner. To me he looked like someone biding their time, waiting for the right moment while absorbing everything around him, not missing a thing. He could get his timing horribly wrong, who knows? He could spend a lifetime as a might-have-been, like William Hague for example. Or, if he's patient, he could lie low, wait for Brown to hang himself, quietly build an empire, then get moving when the time is right. Whatever happens, I suspect it's going to be a fascinating political story, worthy of Shakespeare. Brown's whole life, of course, is a full-scale Shakespearean tragedy. We are seeing an endgame here, and Miliband , if he's as clever as he appears, will take full advantage. We'll see.......