Top Ten: Political Diarists (part two)

6. Alan Clark
Clark wasn't quite as good as some claim, partly - perhaps paradoxically - because he was such a one-off politician. The best political diaries come from MPs who express private opinions shared by others, but since no one agreed with the idiosyncratic extremism of Clark, his books stand or fall on the strength of his personality alone. And although he was quite something by the conformist standards of modern politics, the truth is that he’s not really interesting enough to sustain three volumes. The best is probably the third, The Last Diaries: In and Out of the Wilderness (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2002), which is dominated by our – and ultimately his – awareness of his impending death.

7. Chris Mullin
The success of A View from the Foothills: The Diaries of Chris Mullin (Profile, 2009) was something of a surprise, though it shouldn’t have been: after all, this is the man who gave us the classic A Very British Coup, so we already knew he could write. These first diaries covered his brief moment in the sun as a junior member of Tony Blair’s government and, though they were followed by further volumes, they’re still the best, since he mixes a bit more freely with the big players. None of whom come out of this account very well.

8. Lord Longford
As far as I know, he only published the one volume, Diary of a Year (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1982), but what a year to choose. As an old Labour peer, he makes a fascinating witness to the high water mark of the left’s attempted takeover of the party in 1981. Worth reading alongside Tony Benn’s version.

9. Lance Price
Overshadowed since by Alastair Campbell’s work, The Spin Doctor’s Diary (Hodder & Stoughton, 2005) was quite shocking at the time, confirming much of what had been rumoured and suspected about the inner workings of the Blair government. It’s still a powerful indictment of just how wrong things went. And how quickly.

10. Barbara Castle
Castle’s diaries weren’t the first by a Labour Party minister to chronicle the Harold Wilson years – those were by Richard Crossman – nor the best: those are by Benn. But they have a charm of their own, particularly the second volume 1974-76 (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1980), as she finds herself maginalised in the government and becomes increasingly tetchy.

A Classless Society

A comment by Tyrone Jenkins on a previous blog entry asks whether I intend to write a sequel to my previous books Crisis? What Crisis? and Rejoice! Rejoice!

And the answer is that I am indeed contracted to produce a third volume in the series, provisionally titled A Classless Society: Britain in the 1990s.

This will cover the period from Margaret Thatcher's dethronement in November 1990 through to the re-election of Tony Blair in June 2001. And it'll be the usual chaotic mix of high politics and low culture - though in this instance, the politics were a bit on the low side as well.

Like the previous two volumes, it will be published by Aurum Press, with the same editor - Sam Harrison - that I worked with on my Terry Nation book. It should appear next year, though I'm hoping there'll be an interim piece on the period available for download in March this year.

Libraries

In these straitened times, it's good to know that some public libraries still have a proper acquisitions policy. This is a photo of the excellent library on Blackstock Road, Finsbury Park, run by the London Borough of Islington:

Quote for the Week 11

'When push comes to shove, the pounds, the dollars and deutschmarks can't be equal. They can't all be at the same standard.'
- Geri Halliwell expresses her concerns about the European single currency, 1996

Quote for the Week 10

'Yes, the resulting deal may be totally undemocratic, but if the single-currency members couldn't take a joke they ought not to have signed up.'
- Dan Atkinson on the current crisis for the Euro.

Quote for the Week 9

'You cannot build the New Jerusalem on a mountain of debt.'
- Gordon Brown to the Labour Party conference, 1997

Yesterday's Papers - Shooting People Is Wrong

As both Jeremy Clarkson and the BBC apologise for his suggestion that state sector workers who go on strike should be taken outside and shot, it's hard not to have a sense of deja vu. This is from a report on the Brand Republic website dated 29 November 2009:

...Ofcom has also announced that a complaint levelled at comedian Jeremy Hardy, following his suggestion that BNP voters should be 'shot in the back of the head' has now also been resolved.

Hardy made the remark on his BBC Radio 4 show Jeremy Hardy Speaks to the Nation on September 9. Ofcom said it did not think the remarks were intended to endorse violent behaviour.

Flashman

Watching Prime Minister's Questions this afternoon, I was struck again by the way that Ed Balls shouts 'Flashman' at David Cameron whenever the prime minister makes a personal attack on Ed Miliband.

There's nothing wrong, of course, with the privately educated Balls (Nottingham Boys School) suggesting that Cameron (Eton) might give the impression of being a public school bully, picking on poor little Miliband (Haverstock Comprehensive).

But it does make me wonder where this righteous class anger was back in the days when Tony Blair (Fettes) was having a go at a succession of state-educated Tory leaders: John Major (Rutlish Grammar), William Hague (Wath-upon-Dearne Comprehensive), Iain Duncan Smith (St Peter's Secondary) and Michael Howard (Llanelli Grammar).

Quote for the Week 8

'Instead of monopolising the seat of judgement, journalism should be apologising in the dock.' - Oscar Wilde

Critical thinking

I'm very taken with a blogger named Mondale, who has nice things to say about my book, Crisis? What Crisis?

Proff Reading (slight return)

This is from the memoirs of Kenneth Baker, chairman of the Conservative Party in the last days of Margaret Thatcher:

'My first real memories stem from that time, and the outbreak of war. The radio was crucially important, and I remember hearing tunes like Run, Rabbit, Run, Who Do You Think You're Kidding, Mr Hitler? and Hang Out the Washing on the Siegried Line.' - Kenneth Baker, The Turbulent Years (Faber & Faber, 1993) pp.4-5

Well, probably not. Who Do You Think You Are Kidding, Mr Hitler? was written in 1968 by Jimmy Perry as the theme song to Dad's Army.

My Generation @ The Public

... and talking of Harry Goodwin, it's nice that the BBC website is publicising the My Generation exhibition of his photos, which arrived yesterday at The Public in West Bromwich. Do go, and make sure you pick up a copy of the excellent book that (I hope) is on sale.