What do Harriet Harman and Sybil Fawlty have in common?

One of the many memorable lines from Fawlty Towers was when Basil told Sybil that she ought to go on Mastermind, special subject "the bleeding obvious."

Until today, I'd always thought that Harriet Harman, deputy leader of the Labour Party, had rather more about her that Mrs Fawlty.

Technically, it was hard to fault the way she brought this year's party conference to a close, deploying as she did, repetition and a 3-part list.

But take a closer look at the content of what she said:

Together we'll fight for those we represent.
Together we'll fight for a prosperous and fair Britain.
And most important, conference, together we'll fight to win.


And consider whether any politician of any party (other than perhaps the Monster Raving Loony Party) could have said the opposite:

Together we'll fight for those we don't represent.
Together we'll fight for an impoverished and unfair Britain.
And most important, conference, together we'll fight to lose.


What, I wonder, would Basil Fawlty have had to say to Harriet? "Special three subjects the bleeding obvious"?

1 comment:

Dorothea Stuart said...

Pop psychology might suggest the "fighting to win" shows the unspoken belief that they're going to lose. Bit like Alastair Darling looking bored during Gordon Brown's speech...full of sound and fury, signifying...possibly not a lot!