| New Light on New Labour Dan O'Neill
‘Cruel Britannia’ by Nick Cohen
Verso 240pp £19.2
‘Sultans of Spin’ by Nicholas Jones
Victor Gollancz 293pp - £18.99 Stg
‘New Labour, New Danger’ was the warning from Conservative Central Office during
the 1997 British General Election. They needn’t have worried; the Tory legacy was
safe in the hands of the new combo, Tony Blair and the Modernisers. Where the
‘Project’ is going and how it is getting there are the subjects of the Cohen and
Jones audits of the People’s Party.
Cruel Britannia is an anthology of Nick Cohen’s Observer
columns, charting the weekly about turns of a once great movement that was the Labour
Party. Labour still has many ardent activists and even some dedicated MP’s but the
New Labour government, in relying on the new, has thrown out most of what was good about
the old.
'Joining New Labour is like the Mafia - you must kill what you love to prove your loyalty
to the capo,' writes Cohen and, sadly, many bright young acolytes have willingly made this
sacrifice. The book’s title refers to the failed attempt to market Britain as
‘Cool Britannia’, and, just like the fortunes of a pop group, the tag became a
trendy affectation before sinking like a stone.
Tony Blair became a household name when as Shadow Home Secretary he repeated ad nauseam
that he was 'Tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime'. Predictably, New Labour
reneged on the promise to return privatised prisons to state administration
(notwithstanding that going private has engendered a higher suicide rate in the lucrative
jails). Now more than ever, 'the buzz of the surveillance camera and snarl of the
dead-eyed judge are the sounds of swinging Britain'. The fear is that England is heading
the way of the US where, for instance, 'California now spends more on jails than higher
education'.
Cohen documents the alarming nexus between Labour and big business. In a section entitled
'UK PLC', we read of the bizarre connection between McDonald’s and education; a
teachers' English pack assembled by the company 'included such literary tasks as
identifying and conjugating "Chicken" and "McNuggets"’.
Labour’s drift to the right seems inexorable;
'At a recent Young Fabian Conference, bright wonks discussed privatising the NHS.' A table
at the Labour conference was sponsored by Enron; 'so violent was the company’s use of
what was in effect a private army, it received the distinctive honour of being the subject
of the only Amnesty report on a corporation rather than a dictatorship'. He details the
connection between GM food manufacturers and New Labour cronies. It makes for depressing
reading.
New Labour treats its apostates particularly harshly. When the Observer revealed
Labour’s hand-in-glove relationship with lobbyists (Derek Draper in particular), its
reporter Gregory Palast was branded a liar in 72-point type by the Mirror and
rubbished by Peter Mandelson. The affair was particularly galling since the Conservatives
had been pilloried for years for being the party of sleaze. It’s hard to disagree
with Cohen when he argues that 'there is - wouldn’t you say - a distinct lack of
principle behind Labour’s media operations. As in the old Communist Party, past
beliefs and commitment are irrelevant, and cretinous loyalty is all'.
Other areas covered by Cohen include Oswald Mosley and revisionists, immigration, Martin
Bell, Demos (hilariously portrayed), former CIA ‘spook’ DeAnne Julius (now on
the Bank of England’s Monetary Committee), George Orwell and Burma. ‘Cruel
Britannia’ is the book you hoped you’d never see but somehow you knew was
inevitable. Buy it if you want to stay off message.
Nicholas Jones extends Cohen’s criticism of how Labour manipulates the press and has
become a government obsessed with presentation and control. Sultans of Spin
continues the BBC reporter’s excellent series on the men behind the image. Jones has
faithfully recorded the twists and turns of the first two years of Labour in power and
identifies the personalities who act as hidden persuaders.
Labour’s addiction to spin stems from the habits of opposition. Attacking a weakened
Conservative government with a media- friendly Opposition front bench on a constant
campaign footing ill prepared many ministers for the hazards of administration. 'As the
months went by and events crowded in on the new government, their expertise in managing
the news agenda was to prove no substitute for effective decision making and decisive
action'. So who were the shadowy spinners?
The villain of the piece is Alistair Campbell. The 'tabloid genius' who coined the phrase
‘The People’s Princess’ after Diana’s death, Campbell is also credited
with getting Robin Cook to divorce his wife. Jones writes of how the Prime Minister’s
press secretary effectively delivered an ultimatum to Cook to choose between his wife and
his job. Campbell acts as Tony’s enforcer, chief scribe and mouth piece. He
‘ghost writes’ many of his boss’s tabloid articles, favours the Murdoch
press in his briefings and humiliates less- fawning hacks. Most seriously, he has
politicised the civil service beyond acceptable boundaries.
Naturally, Peter Mandelson features frequently in Sultans of Spin. His power was
on the wane once he raised his head above the parapet but you can’t keep a good
spinner down. As Minister without Portfolio, he gave an interview to the Guardian and when
asked if he ‘managed’ the news he replied; 'I’m trying to avoid gaffes or
setbacks and ... I’m trying to create the truth - if that’s news management I
plead guilty'. Sadly for Mandelson, he wasn’t able to manage his own political
survival - ironic indeed as he had been paramount in rooting out any aspiring
parliamentary candidates with 'colourful' pasts.
Charlie Whelan comes across as an amiable cove, certainly when compared to other robots in
New Labour. Gordon Brown’s right hand man fell by the same sword which despatched
Mandelson and Geoffrey Robinson. Whelan liked a pint, talking to journalists and, what
became a huge source of tension within the government, promoting Brown over Blair (after a
biography of the Chancellor was written by a friend of Whelan’s, Campbell described
Brown, off the record naturally, as ‘psychologically flawed’). Apart from the
events directly leading to his sacking, Whelan’s biggest blunder was delivering an
apparent policy announcement on the Euro over a mobile phone outside a packed pub.
Personalities quickly gave way to problems. When New Labour came off the rails, it did so
in spectacular fashion. In opposition the party pledged to ban tobacco sponsorship in
sport. Yet in office, Blair announced a derogation for Formula One Racing. Had this
anything to do with motor racing mogul Bernie Ecclestone’s £1,000,000 donation to
Labour Party coffers? The spinners became evasive and misleading as a previously docile
media piled on the pressure. No matter how it was presented, Labour’s train had hit
the sleaze buffer. Blair was eventually forced to apologise on television for his
government’s conduct during the affair. The Observer’s expose
of New Labour and its links with lobbyists meant that after a short spell most flack was
coming from Labour-supporting newspapers.
'If Blair wants to get a blast of fresh air into the murky world of political journalism,
where better to start than by allowing cameras into lobby briefings so that the public can
see what was being said on the government’s behalf?' asks Jones. Sultans of Spin
shows us why spindoctors should not be allowed to lurk in the shadows. Let in the light!
Dan O'Neill is studying law at the Dublin Institute of Technology
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