Customer Reviews

Servants of the People

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It must be true - the spin doctors slammed it! Rawnsley, a respected political journalist and commentator, got a strong reaction when this book was published with some very senior figures indeed coming forward to rubbish it. For anyone who hasn't read it that may give an unfair impression of a book which struck me at least as an attempt at a reasonable and balanced account of the early fortunes of Britain's first Labour government in decades. Rawnsley is happy to give praise where it is due - for Tony Blair's intervention in the Northern Ireland peace process for example. It was also billed as a bright light shone into the darkest corners of the Labour Party and this too underplays its strengths. Rawnsley turns his expertise to deconstructing the 'New Labour' phenomenon and examining the extraordinary current of feeling which propelled Blair into Number 10. Gordon Brown, Britain's 'Iron Chancellor', is also under the microscope and the relationship between the two provides a central, and controversial, feature of the book. It's got its share of scandal and gossip, it's written with a disrespectful humour, and many of its conclusions may be contentious. Also the anonymity of many sources is preserved, so the reader can't judge their validity. But it's a cracking read, convincing and entertaining. Is it true? Well, there's an anecdote about how Blair and his press henchman Alistair Campbell were thrown into a flurry on election night by their own unexpected success. The two men were on their way to the Labour victory rally in Blair's newly-acquired armoured car. Blair jumped out of the car while it was still moving and Cambell, following out of duty, had his foot run over by the heavy vehicle. The stuff of farce - but later confirmed by Campbell...

This is a well-researched and riotously funny account of the first term of Tony Blair's premiership (1997-2001). The author is a prominent political columnist for a leftish newspaper in the UK and has an extremely rich array of New Labour contacts, so his information comes straight from the horses' mouths. The style of Rawnsley's writing, however, is what makes this book such a gem: it's straightforward reporting mixed with wry wit and the regular puncturing of politicians' most cherished illusions about themselves. I defy any reader to keep a straight face at the end of the chapter on the foot and mouth crisis, in which Blair desperately maneuvers to save the life of an especially popular calf ("Phoenix") after having overseen the slaughter of thousands of less photogenic victims. Some familiarity with the British system of government is probably helpful, but it is possible to pick up quite a bit from context. Anyone who enjoys watching "Yes, Minister" reruns on PBS is almost guaranteed to like this book.

At the time of publication New Labour had just emerged from the first of what would be three general election wins and the cult of New Labour was still relatively fresh. It is pointing out then that this is not a book about the New Labour Project but about New Labour in power. The former, which would be a fascinating book in it own right would surely have to place a great deal more emphasis on the period of New Labour on the Opposition benches (1994-1997) and, just as importantly, on the history of the Labour Party in the second half of the twentieth century.

As it is, Rawnsley effectively starts the book in May 1997 with the the first of many stage choreographed `walk of triumph' into No 10 by `call me Tony' Blair. This is a shame because, had the context been given the emphasis on the context out of which Blair was taking the Labour Party then the emphasis Rawnsley places on Blair's obsessive spin control and the determination to secure a second term (as so few Labour Governments had done previously) would be more understandable.

Despite this omission there is a great deal to commend this book, even some ten years after initial publication. What I found fascinating about this was the different tenor of the first term. It is true that some of the later scandals over corruption and `buying cash for honours' etc were present in the first term, as evidence by the Bernie Ecclestone Affair there is also a great deal to appreciate about the first term. In particular the perseverance on the Good Friday Agreement, and the huge political gamble this represented, is quite rightly held up as a moment of where `the hand of history' was laid upon Blair.

In other areas too, such as Kosovo for example, Blair is shown to be an effective and dynamic leader who responds quickly and effectively to emerging situations even if, as in Kosovo, the effect of the legacy and legitimacy of the action is debatable ( it was after all, like Iraq, an action conducted outside of the purview of the UN).

By focussing on one pivotal event of Blair's premiership in each chapter Rawnsley provides an excellent glimpse into the workings, conflicts and contradictions and egos of the UK Government of 1997-2001. Each chapter is covered in some detail but is written punchingly. Very frequently I found myself deciding to read `just one more chapter'.

At the time of publication I suspect this book was predominately one for the westminster bubble and gossip-seekers but reading it a decade later it is also, I think, a useful piece of history in that there seems to be a clear sense of continuity (I strongly hesitate to say evolution) in how the later years of New Labour, particularly the authoritarian urge, would develop.

In sum, Servants of the People while not a complete record of the early years of New labour is an excellent and highly enjoyable book even reading it some 10 years after publication.

This book is fairly authoritative. The reader is fairly convinced that he is getting an accurate picture. It is of course only one view. If you compare Rawnsley's account of the Arms for Africa affair with that of high-ranking civil servant Craig Murray in his 'The Catholic Orangemen of Togo', you see how a 'Blair rides to the rescue' story conceals another narrative of corruption and mass-murder in Africa with Britain unwilling to look under the headlines and uncaring about the consequences as long as they get their boys out of the swamp.

Rawnsley confirms all that we thought we knew about government by cabal. He says Labour in its first term was run by Blair, Brown, Mandelson and Campbell. Everyone else including Foreign Secretary Cook was decisively marginalised.

What does emerge however to a cynic like me is at what level Blair's 'sincerity' operates, and his good qualities. In this narrative his roles in Northern Ireland and Kosovo are exceptional. His style of driving hard for consensus - if that is not a contradiction - paid off in circumstances where he had to seek reconciliation of the unreconcilable. A pity he didn't try that tactic with Bush.

On the negative side, time and time again the obsession with spin led Labour into silly and often unnecessary trouble. Beyond that we also see that Blair has a sort of contempt for traditional values, of almost any kind, and an obsession with success.

Rawnsley's new book is now on the market and I look forward to reading it.

Andrew Rawnsley is an established and respected political journalist. This is a studied and thoughtful account of the early years of Tony Blair's New Labour Government - following eighteen years of Conservative Rule. He takes us behind the personalities who had shown unity at all costs as Labour fought desperately to regain power.

We gain an insight into the minds of the major players. Who is in and who is out. The power struggle is played against the background of major events - The Northern Ireland Peace Process, Kosova etc. In particular he gives a real insight into the rivalry and dependancy of Blair and Chancellor Gordon Brown. A fascinating insight into the working of Government.

With 38 more days of Blair's premiership to go I thought that this might be a good time to remind myself of how it all looked and felt in the year 2000 when the book was published. I am a regular reader of Andrew Rawnsley's weekly political commentary in The Observer, and he can always be relied on for an intelligent and fair-minded view, with an engaging public-schoolboy sense of the aspects of the matter (many) that are slightly or more than slightly ridiculous.

Rawnsley does his homework. For obvious reasons he can't name most of his sources or they would not remain sources for long, but I see no reason not to believe his claim that he found them at the top, in the middle and at the bottom of the parliamentary pile. His main text starts with Labour's election victory in 1997, but his short preface is in some ways the most interesting thing in the book, recapitulating the history of the `New Labour Project' that restored Labour to government after many had given up on it as being unelectable. Blair obviously occupies centre-stage, but the book is about his party and his government in general, not about him solely or even mainly. Blair had snatched the crown from under the nose of the longtime leader in waiting Gordon Brown, whom he had to placate with unprecedented power and influence as Chancellor and whose turn is now at last about to come. Never far from the spotlight except when he chose to be is also the machiavellian figure of Peter Mandelson, and manipulating the spotlights is of course Tony's loyal and brutal press supremo Alastair Campbell.

Labour had been out of office for 18 years. Neither Blair nor Brown nor any minister other than one fairly minor officeholder had any experience of government whatsoever. In addition the swarm of political analysts, pundits and commentators that had done much to wreck Blair's hapless predecessor John Major now buzzed incessantly round their heads, and the new government was unsurprisingly fixated on presentation. They were put through their presentational paces from the outset and after claiming to wash whiter than white they soon found they had plenty of whitewashing to do. The foreign secretary was forced into an abrupt and vicious parting from his wife: a highly questionable gift to the party was first accepted then denied then disowned; and a farcical folly called the Millennium Dome was devouring money in an inaccessible location on the Thames. However the public mood of trust in honest-faced Tony continued. Purely from that point of view Blair acquitted himself brilliantly over the public reaction to the death of Princess Diana, and a genuine masterstroke of real substance was achieved by Brown in giving independence in monetary policy to the Bank of England.

As it started, so it has gone on. New Labour had puffed themselves as inaugurating a new era, but behind the scenes they were just human beings - prima donnas, ego-trippers, inexperienced and sometimes incompetent, quarrelsome and jealous, but still perceived behind their dashing young leader as an improvement on what we had been used to, and astonishingly surefooted in putting themselves across. Rawnsley comments as well as reporting, but it is always clear what the basis is for his opinions, and that is the least and the most he should do. If I were to criticise anything in the book it might be that I would have welcomed some more of his own point of view, because it is always reasonable in never in support of any rigid standpoint. The narrative is slightly jerky, reflecting I suppose its origins in separate pieces for the BBC or the press. The writing is mainly good too, although I grimaced at the lordly metaphor `on such accidents...does the river of events turn.' Rivers bend surely, but I never heard of a river turning before and I hope I never do again; and who was the proofreader who let him away with the noun `perplexion'?

There is a real air of authenticity about this book, a sense of genuine endeavour to get to the bottom of things through the maelstrom of what we now call `spin'. It recaptures for me the real feel of the time and although I and the whole long-suffering British public are inundated with comment to the point of boredom and disgust Rawnsley's freshness of attitude, simple clarity and patent honesty keep my attention. I would say that I hope he will let us have some more of it all, but I sense that that is not so much a hope as a stone-cold certainty.

Regarding my second edition copy of Andrew Rawnsley's SERVANTS OF THE PEOPLE: THE INSIDE STORY OF NEW LABOUR, I have just read all six reviews posted at amazon.com as of Friday September 02, 2011. I learned useful slants from all six reviews, spread equally between 5-star and 4-star ratings. I infer that all or most of the reviewers are British. Certainly all give every appearance of knowing first-hand and far better than American I the day by day workings of British politics since 1994. That is the year when the unexpected death in May of Labour Party chief John Smith catapulted Tony Blair to elected party leadership in July.

I sincerely doubt that most American general readers with an educated but selective knowledge of British politics since 1994 would rate SERVANTS OF THE PEOPLE higher than 3-star or 2-star. Why?

-- (1) The author generally declines to EMPHASIZE any one event more strongly than another. Everything is equally important or trivial. He leaves it to the reader to sort the wheat from the chaff. The exception is the unrelenting drumbeat of spin doctoring: New Labour biggies apparently never met a fact they wouldn't spin.

-- (2) Andrew Rawnsley nor his editor provides a badly needed Executive Summary. What, after all, were the major challenges faced by and achievements of New Labour's first of three watches at the tiller (1997 - 2001)? To this detached American, these would appear to include at least the following: spinning the death of Princess Diana to the advantage of a media-deaf Queen; and helpfully reversing the reluctance to go to war over Kosovo and Yugoslavia's murderous Slobodan Milosevic; presiding over a prospering economy and finding more money than the Tories had both for education and for the national health scheme; devolving real power to Wales and Scotland while simultaneously introducing proportional representation there -- although not to UK-wide elections; modernizing the House of Lords; manuevering in and out of European integration, marginalizing Labour back-benchers in Parliament, largely ignoring the feckless Monarchy and coping tardily with a severe outbreak of foot and mouth disease.

-- (3) Low-key humor there is indeed in SERVANTS OF THE PEOPLE, just not as much as, say, in Major General Lionel Dunsterville's recently re-issued memoirs: STALKY'S REMINISCENCES. Was there really a media brouhaha over the proper form of air transport for the PM: ("Blair Force One")?

-- (4) I think that my six predecessor reviewers for amazon.com have done justice to other workmanlike elements at play in the narrative of SERVANTS OF THE PEOPLE: the ultimately fatal fraternal dueling betwen pupil Tony Blair - mentor Gordon Brown ("smooth Jacob" versus "hairy Esau," as Rawnsley so biblically put it); the psychological makeup of New Labour's inner circle, including Peter "Prince of Darkness" Mandelson and press czar Alistair Campbell under whom the "number of Whitehall press officers ... expanded to 1,100" ; the important distinction between New Labour as Project and as Governing body; and much more.

So what does that leave for less informed me to review?

Just for fun, let me select at random two themes for a bit larger consideration.

-- Let's begin with New Labour's"Project" for the House of Lords and what actually happened. From scattered passages of SERVANTS OF THE PEOPLE I gather, perhaps not entirely accurately, that at a party conference after the May 1997 Parliamentarly election (or was it before?) Blair re-pledged to put the hereditary lords "to the sword" (p. 203). Somehow I got the impression that Blair & Co. had originally announced the intention to do so sometime BEFORE the election. Well, did he? Or did an earlier Labour Project to do away entirely with the Lords give way to elastically pragmatic Blair's settling for mere "reform?" Must I google for that information, or is it clearly stated somewhere in the book and I just missed it, despite combing jejune references in the Index? In the event, after clever negotiations which spared the House of Commons a wasted year muscling its way into reform, New Labour soon enough reduced the hereditary lords by 650 (p. 203). How many hereditaries did that leave: 92?

-- Another theme that my better informed fellow reviewers might care to address is, with so many anti-Monarchists in the Labour Party (including, if I recall correctly, the Prime Minister's lawyer wife Cherie), why is Britain still not a republic? Were the Cromwells, father and son, simply two Republicans too many?

In the cases of both the Lords and the Monarchy, did Blair go no farther than the polls told him that the British electorate wanted to go?

As a practitioner of "instant history," Rawnsley may instinctively put himself in the camp of Henry Ford and the "History is Bunk" school of interpreting facts. Certainly, this book is not heavy on historical perspectives. Pity.

On balance, I found reading SERVANTS OF THE PEOPLE: THE INSIDE STORY OF NEW LABOUR a slow, tough slog. I learned little new about the Conservative Party than I already knew, although much more about the Liberal-Democrats in 1997 and afterwards. Downward evolution of the Tony Blair - Bill Clinton romance held my attention. But, had there been a decent 10-page Executive Summary, I would have contented myself with that rather than 568 pages of prosing.

-OOO-