Blair’s babes

Public life can be incredibly unforgiving at times.

On the face of it getting out of a car with confidential papers in your hands appears not to be a resigning matter. The fact those papers were of a highly confidential nature and were those you were about to discuss with the Prime Minister ought not to be that serious. The real issue to consider is why the press feel it necessary to stand outside number 10 using long-range camera lenses to extract this information.

Why do I say this?

Any ordinary policeman, what ever his rank, in ordinary times, would have carried out their job without fuss and without media management. Policeman Quick, and his successor Yates, are all products of the Blair years (Former - Commissioner Blair that is). Blair’s attempts to create a public profile and to manage the media led to his downfall. However, his style of management filtered down through the ranks. Quick was the man who launched the unjustified search and arrest of an MP. He then went on to call the Conservative party ‘corrupt’, something he later apologised for.

Yates, of course, led the cash for questions inquiry.

Both these men, like their master Blair, felt it was also their role to manipulate the press and that is regrettable.

Quick’s resignation for what he did may seem a little harsh, but I can’t help but recall the peanuts cartoon where the main characters are playing tennis and one looks at the other and says “He who plays by the dirty rotten drop shot dies by the dirty rotten drop shot”.