RSS

Contact us

Saturday 22 November 2008

WEB EXCLUSIVE:  Meet the minister for selling the unsellable - uncut

An extended version of Fraser Nelson's interview with Jim Murphy

As he knows, this is an understatement. He started campaigning the day he was elected and started what he calls 'retail politics'. 'You meet people where they are,' he says. Instead of a surgery, he goes to surgeries in supermarkets, train stations, places where voters can be found. By 2001 he had a majority of 9,000 – and turned this former stronghold into one of Labour’s safest seats.

And this is what Jim Murphy does: sells the unsellable. First he sold Blairite reform to the NUS, then converted the Tories of East Renfrewshire. As a government whip he sold tuition fees and Foundation hospitals to Labour backbenchers. And his prize for this is to sell the Lisbon Treaty to the British public. When he explains why it recalls his original 'realism, not revolution' slogan.

‘The reason why I was made Europe Minister is because I am a realist. I don’t come here with any great baggage or emotional attachment to Europe always being right — far from it. But I think that, if Europe can work more effectively, people’s perceptions will change.’

Might people’s perceptions change for the better if Tony Blair would stand to be European Union President? ‘I think it would be great.  He’s a big character with international recognition. I haven’t spoken to him to know if he definitely wants it. The Prime Minister of Luxembourg fancies it.’ But would he actually back Mr Blair? So far, Mr Brown has been cagey about this. ‘If he did want to do the job, I think he would be great at it and I would be interested in helping him make it happen.’ So, finally, a ‘yes’ from London.

I ask how he’s spending the half-term recess: the answer, of course, is constituency work. ‘I’m going back to my old school, where 42 per cent of the pupils are now Polish. Next year the majority will be Polish.’ But doesn’t this just sum up Labour’s failure, I ask, that one in four men in Glasgow is living off benefits and yet so many immigrants find work so easily? And isn’t the reality behind his boasts of new jobs that almost all have been created by immigrants?

More articles from: Fraser Nelson | this section

Print this article  |  Email to a friend  |  Permalink  |   Comment

Post this entry to:   del.icio.us | Digg | Newsvine | NowPublic | Reddit

Advertisement

Spectator Business | Apollo Magazine

Corporate | Advertising | Privacy | Terms

Spectator, 22 Old Queen Street, London, SW1H 9HP

All Articles and Content Copyright ©2008 by The Spectator | All Rights Reserved