Tony Blair tells his foes to come and get him if they dare
By Andrew Rawnsley (THE GUARDIAN, 07/05/06):
When Harold Macmillan tried to prolong his tenure at Number 10 by sacking seven ministers, it became known as the Night of the Long Knives. Tony Blair, another actor-manager of a Prime Minister who is wearing greasepaint that has worn thin, produced the Morning of the Short Straws.
The reshuffle was designed to assert his authority and his longevity by removing Jack Straw as Foreign Secretary, sacking Charles Clarke as Home Secretary and stripping all power from John Prescott to leave him looking like a spare cocktail sausage at a Whitehall party. It had clearly been decided by the Prime Minister that it was not enough to be brutal; he had to be seen to be brutal.… Seguir leyendo »