Saturday, October 9, 2010

The Key To Understanding Tony Blair

I have finally finished the Tony Blair memoir A Journey (The Journey if you bought the British version.) Many passages of A Journey have been analysed and unpacked by the world's media, but this little quote seems to have gone unnoticed from the beginning of Chapter 18 'Triumph And Tragedy' that perhaps best explains Blair's  British views on the world:  

"Travel does play havoc with the digestive system. You need to eat healthily and with discipline. I am very typically British. I like to have time and comfort in the loo. The bathroom is an important room and I couldn't live in a culture that doesn't respect it."

The clip is from Carry On At Your Convenience and should be borne in mind whenever you come across former Prime Minister (and Blair role model) Harold Macmillan's quote that "Britain will play Greece to America's Rome." Er...yes.