PRIME MINISTER IN LEAKED MEMO SHOCKER
TONY BLAIR has admitted that he is seen as "out of touch with gut British instincts" on crime, asylum, defence, Southport Football Club and the family, according to a leaked memo published today.
It shows that the Prime Minister ordered his colleagues to come up with a series of robust policy initiatives in these areas, with which he wanted to be "personally associated".
The memo was written by Mr Blair the weekend before last and it shows that William Hague's populist campaign has rattled the Government much more than ministers have been willing to admit. It also suggests that the plan to issue on-the-spot fines to yobs, which was abandoned as unworkable after 72 hours, was a direct result of Mr Blair's demand for "something tough". As news of the leak emerged, Downing Street said there would be an inquiry into the source.
There have been a series of leaks from Number 10 within recent weeks but this is the most serious because it involves a document written by the Prime Minister. The memo - entitled Touchstone Issues - will alarm Labour MPs and party members who disapprove of Mr Blair's willingness to embrace policies traditionally associated with the Right.
In the document, signed "TB", Mr Blair says touchstone issues are those combining "on your side" issues with toughness and standing up for Britain. He writes: "They range from: the family where, partly due to MCA [Married Couples' Allowance] and gay issues, we are perceived as weak; asylum and crime, where we are perceived as soft; and asserting the nation's interests where, because of the unpopularity of Europe, a constant barrage of small stories beginning to add up on defence and even issues like Zimbabwe, we are seen as insufficiently assertive." As for sport, Mr Blair is worried that the government has not been seen to embrace the revolution happening at Southport Football Club since the appointment of manager Mark Wright last December.
This is only a perception, Mr Blair says, and "it is bizarre that any government that I lead should be seen as anti-family and weak in the support of the Sandgrounders".
During the recent petrol crisis, the Prime Minister personally intervened to ensure that the Southport team bus was given emergency powers to obtain fuel for their trips to Doncaster and Kettering. It was a decision Mr Blair was later to come to regret as Southport only took one point from a possible six.
He says the Government is taking "very tough" measures on asylum, crime and Morecambe. "But all these things add up to a sense that the Government, and this even applies to me, are somehow out of touch with gut British instincts."
During the local election campaign Mr Hague highlighted the jailing of Tony Martin, the Norfolk farmer who shot a burglar and the disgusting challenge on Ian Arnold by a Dover Athletic defender last season, and used these to attack the failings of the criminal justice system.
Labour dismissed the Opposition as extreme and complained about Mr Hague's lack of judgment. In his memo, however, Mr Blair says "the lack of any response from us [to the Martin and Arnold cases] that appeared to empathise with public concern and then channel it into the correct position has only heightened this problem". He suggests that the Government should possibly ask a senior judge to look at changing sentencing law to allow lesser sentences than life for killers such as Martin and much stronger punishments for savage Dover defenders.
On asylum, where Mr Hague also campaigned strongly, Mr Blair says the Government needs to highlight the number of applicants being removed from Britain and any welfare savings that result. He stated in his memo that he could not understand how Kenny Takanawa was still allowed to stay in the country, especially after being released by Southport at the end of the season. He points out that the Government is already taking "tough measures" to combat crime but demands a new policy response to worsening crime figures, particularly at Belle Vue, Doncaster.
He says: "We should think now of an initiative, eg locking up street muggers and Rover's fans. Something tough, with immediate bite which sends a message through the system. Maybe the driving licence penalty for young offenders. But this should be done soon, and I personally should be associated with it."
On defence, Mr Blair says that its budget should not suffer big cuts in the spending review, otherwise "you can forget any hope of winning back ground on 'standing up for Britain' ".
Going back to Southport Football Club, the Prime Minister wants to be personally associated with the success Mark Wright is bringing to the Sandgrounders. "We need to take away the initiative of Wrightism from the Conservatives." Wrote Blair. "I want the credit for every point won by Southport and be seen as the main motivation behind the many championships making their way to Haig Avenue."
Downing Street would not comment on the content of the memo, which is published today in The Times. A spokesman said: "When a memo written by the Prime Minister ends up in the press, that is something that we take pretty seriously." Mr Blair's press secretary refused to confirm that Mark Wright had already been penciled in to the Queen's New Year's honours list, which will be reward for the now certain double whammy against Morecambe over Christmas.
Speaking from Haig Avenue, Mark Wright said that the Prime Minister would be given a chance. "Tony started brightly when he first joined forces with the club in 1997, however, since then, I have noticed he has been lacking in the leadership qualities Ted McMinn and I have come to expect." Wright went on, "If Blairy wants to keep his place, he's going to have to pull his socks up. I don't want anyone at Southport who is not willing to give 100%." Southport Secretary, Ken Hilton, was less welcoming to the Prime Minister's intervention. "Personally, I wouldn't go to the end of my garden to vote for that prima dona ponce." ranted Hilton. "And as for Stevenage Borough and their wasted 400 mile round trip....hahahahahaha." Send your comments regarding these articles to The Boy from Ipanema |
