Max Atkinson's Blog

Reading between the lines of 'Labour Vision'

In 1981, John Heritage and I video-recorded (on Betamax) the entire broadcast output of the three main party conferences, colleting a data base of about 500 speeches.

Today, the internet has not only made life much easier for rhetoric and oratory anoraks like me, but it can occasionally throw up some intriguing surprises, an example of which sprang out at me this morning.

Looking back on this year's Labour Party conference, I thought I'd have a look at some videos of speeches by likely candidates for the leadership when Gordon Brown (or the electorate) finally decides it's time for him to go.

The most obvious place to look was the 'Labour Vision' collection on YouTube, which is presumably put there by the party itself.

I've already mentioned the idea of 'noticeable absences' in relation to this year's speeches by Nick Clegg and Peter Mandelson. But here, on 'Labour Vision' there's another very noticeable absence - of three likely candidates for the leadership when the time comes.

'Labour Vision' will let you watch this year's conference speeches by Gordon Brown, Peter Mandelson, Harriet Harman, Jack Straw, Alan Johnson, Alistair Darling, Hilary Benn, Ed Miliband and Yvette Cooper.

But notable by their absence are the speeches by three of the younger generation of likely leadership contenders: Andy Burnham, David Miliband and Ed Balls.

This raises some interesting questions:

Why they are these three missing?
Who decided to omit them from the menu on 'Labour Vision'
Is someone trying to tell us that Miliband junior and Mrs Balls are ahead of Miliband senior and Mr Balls in the leadership stakes?
Or could it be that none of them are considered good enough communicators to risk broadcasting their speeches to a wider audience?

It would be nice if someone in the Labour Party could tell us, but I don't suppose they will.

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"?

The Hateful Daily Mail

This is the first time I've ever lifted a title verbatim from someone else's blog.

It's taken from one of the UKs top political bloggers, Iain Dale, who is rightly complaining to the Press Complaints Commission about an article by Ephraim Hardcastle in today's Daily Mail, which includes the following classic piece of Mail hatefulness:

Overtly gay Tory blogger Iain Dale has reached the final stage of parliamentary selection for Bracknell, telling PinkNews: 'I hope any PinkNews readers who live in Bracknell will come to the open primary on October 17 to select their new candidate.

You don't even have to be a Conservative to attend.'

Isn't it charming how homosexuals rally like-minded chaps to their cause?

You can read more about why Iain Dale is complaining and how to support him HERE. And, if you have red hair, or have any friends, relations or loved ones with red hair, take a deep breath before reading on.

Down with red heads - Mail exclusive

As for why I think it important enough to mention the Mail' at all, let alone its latest slur, it's to remind people that they've been peddling this kind of 'overtly' prejudicial journalism for decades.

One of the most scurrilous pieces I ever saw came from the pen of Ann Leslie, who's supposed to be so worthy and respectable that her services to journalism have been honoured by her elevation to Dame of the British Empire.

On the day before one of the general elections in which Neil Kinnock was leader of the Labour Party (1987 or 1992), the Mail published a two page spread with a perceptive article by Ms Leslie urging their readers not to vote Labour.

The headline summed it up with a warning never to trust a man with red hair (even though, at the risk of sounding baldist, Kinnock didn't have a lot of it left even then).

In fact, according to this erudite award-winning journalist, it would be too much of a risk ever to vote anyone with red hair into Downing Street. She developed her case in nauseating detail, listing every unfounded stereotype about the allegedly negative characteristics and temperament of 'red heads' that anyone has ever heard of - presenting them, of course, as established facts of life.

So, if it's any comfort to Iain Dale, he can at least breathe a sigh of relief that he doesn't have red hair.

Gordon Brown on the morning after the night before

If you didn't see this interview on Sky News, it's well worth watching.

I don't plan to comment on it, other than to say that I found it fascinating in all sorts of different ways - so fascinating, in fact, that I'm curious to know about the impressions others take from it.

GORDON BROWN: The way he told them

It’s good to see The Guardian taking a leaf out of my book and having a go at doing (part of) my job for me!

Regular readers of this blog will know that I sometimes go through a speech looking at the rhetorical techniques the speaker used (e.g. HERE and HERE) and the amount of applause received – where the average burst is 8 ± 1 second (e.g. HERE).

So I was delighted to see the following piece on the Guardian website today, as all it left for me to do was to spot the rhetorical techniques and note whether the bursts of applause were average, below or above average (in red below).

(Links to other posts since the conference season began can be found at the bottom of the page).

GORDON BROWN: THE WAY HE TOLD THEM
Key moments in the prime minister's speech to the Labour party conference

(from today's Guardian website)

"We nationalised Northern Rock and took shares in British banks, and as a result not one British saver has lost a single penny. That was the change we chose. The change that benefits the hard working majority, not the privileged few." (CONTRAST)

Applause: 9.38 seconds (Average)

"The Conservative party were faced with the economic call of the century and they called it wrong."

Applause: 8.13 secs (Average)

"Call them middle class values, call them traditional working class values, call them family values, call them all of these; (1) these are the values of the mainstream majority; (2) the anchor of Britain's families, (3) the best instincts of the British people, (4) the soul of our party (5) and the mission of our government." (5 PART LIST)

Applause: 11.41 secs (Above average)

"For us the NHS has not been a 60-year mistake but a 60-year liberation." (CONTRAST)

Applause: 12.13 secs (Above average)

"In a crisis, what the British people want to know is that their government will not pass by on the other side but will be on their side." (CONTRAST with embedded biblical imagery)

Applause: 10.13 secs (Above average)

"Always a party of restless and relentless reformers, the new mission for new Labour is to realise our passion for fairness and responsibility in these new global times."

Applause: 5.69 secs (Below average)

"The best way finance can serve our country now is to help ensure that the inventions and innovations pioneered in Britain are developed and manufactured in Britain."

Applause: 7.56 secs (Average)

"And when people say, faced with the constraints of the recession, can you make progress towards a fairer and more responsible Britain, let us tell them we did, we can, and we will."

Applause: 7.25 secs (Average)

"I do think it's time to address a problem that for too long has gone unspoken, the number of children having children. For it cannot be right, for a girl of 16, to get pregnant, be given the keys to a council flat and be left on her own." (3 part list)

Applause: 14.72 secs (Above average)

"Whenever and wherever there is antisocial behaviour, we will be there to fight it."

Applause: 6.06 secs (Below average)

"Britain - the four home nations - each is unique, each with its own great contribution and we will never allow separatists or narrow nationalists in Scotland or in Wales to sever the common bonds that bring our country together as one."

Applause: 13.66 secs (Above average)

"Countries from every continent look to our NHS for inspiration. And this summer didn't we show them? We love our NHS." (PUZZLE + SOLUTION)

Applause: 9.28 secs (Average)

"Others may break their promises to the poorest, with Labour Britain never will." (CONTRAST)

Applause: 5.54 secs (Below average)

"Never again should any member of parliament be more interested in the value of their allowances than the values of their constituents." (CONTRAST)

Applause: 7.50 secs (Average)

"And so I say to the British people, the election to come will not be about my future - it's about your future. Your job. Your home. Your children's school. Your hospital. Your community. Your country." (CONTAST WITH LIST OF 7 AS SECOND PART!)

Applause: 11.88 secs (Above average)

"There is a difference between the parties. It's the difference between Conservatives who embrace pessimism and austerity and progressives like Labour who embrace prosperity and hope." (PUZZLE + 3 PARTED SOLUTION)

Applause: 11 secs (Above average)

"We love this country. And we have shown over the years that if you aim high you can lift not just yourself but your country - that there is nothing in life which is inevitable - it's about the change you choose." (CONTRAST?)

Applause: 10.56 secs (Above average)

"This is the change we choose; change that will benefit not just the few who can afford to pay, but the mainstream majority." (CONTRAST + ch-ch-m-m ALLITERATION)

Applause: 7.47 secs (Average)

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