Well, so long, after not so long to Michael Meacher, a man who was never leader, nor was meant to be. ‘Pleased to’ Meacher was his nickname around here, because he was, invariably, pleased to meet you and pleased to talk at length to you too, which is why it was quite clear that he wasn’t cut out for the top job. ‘Dear Mary’ he said in his last email to me, ‘you kindly gave some real consideration to the piece I sent you on global trade, and I entirely understand the reasons you turned it down. But I wonder whether I can interest you in another piece…” See? Pleasant, self-deprecating, civil: not a cat’s chance in a pit bull pit of being PM.
But isn’t it a shame that being a decent chap is such a sure sign you’ll never make it to the top in politics, (being spun as ‘nice’ is ok, cf Cameron, it’s just the real deal that spells doom) and isn’t it curious?
Old ‘Pleased to’ had ‘real life’ experience outside politics too – another ‘no, no’ in Westminster these days, meaning ‘old’ and ‘has been’.
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