-Caveat Lector- Euphorian spotted this on the Guardian Unlimited Observer site and thought you should see it.
To see this story with its related links on the Guardian Unlimited Observer site, go to http://www.observer.co.uk More balls than a Christmas tree In an Observer world exclusive, the Prime Minister candidly confesses that his government's difficulties are all not his fault Andrew Rawnsley Saturday December 21 2002 The Guardian In an unprecedented appearance at the Christmas party of the National Association of Lifestyle Gurus, Holistic Psychics and Fresh Cut Papaya Marmalade Rubdown Therapists, Tony Blair came close to tears as he delivered an astonishingly candid speech about his recent personal difficulties. Here, for the first time, The Observer publishes the full text of the Prime Minister's searing and heartfelt account of the scandals which have touched Number 10. In view of the controversy around me at the moment, I hope you don't mind me using this event to say a few words. You can't have failed to notice that there have been a lot of allegations about me and I haven't said anything. Well, OK, I vaguely remember saying something about the Mittal Affair. I described it as 'garbagegate' - or was that the Richard Desmond donation? You know how it is: I issue the first denial that comes into Alastair's head. When I got back to Downing Street today and discovered that some of the press are effectively suggesting that I am responsible for all of the failures of the Government, I knew the time had come for me to say something in my own words. It is not fair to Gordon, Jack, David, Clare, Robin, Derry and all the other members of the Cabinet whose names temporarily elude me that the entire focus of political debate at the moment is about me. It is particularly not fair to Gordon that he should escape all the blame for our collective difficulty in keeping our promises. I know I am in a very special position. I am the Prime Minister. I have an interesting job, a wonderful family, a couple of nice houses, a transatlantic hotline, a nuclear deterrent, a fast plane whenever I need it and a swanky limo with motorcycle outriders. But I also know I am not superman. To be frank, I really can't do anything much at all without Gordon's say-so. I realise now that I should not have allowed a situation to develop over the past five years where Number 10 spokesmen suggested that I was superman. I take full responsibility for that on their behalf. The reality of my daily life is that I am juggling a lot of balls in the air. Trying to be a good husband and father. Trying to be the Prime Minister at home and abroad, being a barrister, an aid worker, a party fundraiser, a chairman of Cabinet, a leading partner in Europe, a philosopher-king of the Third Way, an international statesman, a global peace-maker, a global warmaker, a world-class actor. So many balls! There are days when all I can see are spherical objects, especially when I am in the company of Jacques Chirac. And, sometimes, some of the balls get dropped. Stephen Byers got dropped. Estelle Morris got dropped. Even Cherie very nearly got dropped. There just aren't enough hours in the day, days in the week, years in the decade, seconds in the minute, talents on the backbenches. I choose my friends carelessly and Gordon Brown has been a mistrusted friend and support to me as I have tried to adapt to the pressures of my public role and to do Alastair and the country proud. When I was just a barrister, I didn't spend much time worrying about how I looked, what I believed or what I said. But I found out quickly when I became leader of the Labour Party that I had to get my act together and Gordon has been a great help in that. When he told me that he had a new friend called deficit, it really didn't cross my mind that he was going to land me in the mess I am now in and, anyway, I don't think it's my business to choose my friend's friends. The same is true of John Prescott. What I was told was that he had been trouble in the past, but he was now a reformed character. I had no idea that he had been in Jags in more than one country, including this country, while Britain's rail network fell apart. His role in the notorious Earth Summit scam came as a complete shock when it was finally revealed to me. Maybe I should have asked more questions about the handling of the firefighters' strike, but I didn't. Even when I learned his name, I had no idea who John Prescott was and I didn't know the full story until a couple of weeks ago when the police alerted me that a newspaper was trying to set me up in a meeting with him. Even now, I have only met him once, for less than five minutes. I have also been faced with allegations that I or people in Downing Street on my behalf telephoned the Home Office urging them to kick asylum-seekers out of the country. It is true that when I first decided to launch another crackdown, I asked David Blunkett to do it for me because I was too busy myself. All those balls! He started to offer me what seemed like helpful advice - we should try to catch more criminals, he said - which at the time I saw no reason to reject. Obviously if I had known the full details of Mr Blunkett's past as Secretary of State for Education I would not have allowed myself to get in to this situation. And as for the blind trust, you may say that I was blind to trust Alan Milburn. On our behalf, he invested taxpayers' money in private finance schemes for hospitals about which we had no knowledge. On the question of the phone call I made to George Bush, which is the subject of attention today, I can explain the background to that. George was unclear about the legal process concerning his right to invade other countries. I phoned Mr Bush's solicitor simply to put his mind at rest that the normal procedures were being followed through the United Nations and he would get his war at the end of it. I emphatically did not try to influence this one way or the other. I was simply trying to help my friend George find out the facts. Now it's being suggested that beyond this I repeatedly spoke to Mr Bush himself about invading Iraq whatever the UN says. I did not. Anyone who has ever tried to have a coherent conversation of more than one sentence with the American President will appreciate how frenzied and inaccurate these allegations have become. I now realise that I made two mistakes. My immediate instinct when faced with intrusive questions from the press about the Government's performance was to protect the privacy of the Cabinet. And particularly George, in his first term at the White House, sniffle, living away from home, sniffle, sniffle. This instinct, which I think any Prime Minister would have, and my desire not to open myself up to any and every question which the press should choose to ask me is what led to the misunderstanding that I am somehow responsible for anything that has gone wrong. The second mistake I made was to allow Ministers I barely knew - and indeed many of whom I have never met - to get involved with my government's affairs. I have never wished to make a public statement like this. Throughout all my time as Prime Minister, I have only ever wanted to protect my Cabinet and to help my friend George. I am sorry if I have embarrassed anyone, but the people who know me well know that I would never want to harm anyone, least of all myself. Sometimes I feel I would like to crawl away and hide for six weeks in a luxury hotel in the Seychelles. But I will not. So stuff that in your stocking the lot of you, and especially you, Gordon. [EMAIL PROTECTED] Read the best of Andrew Rawnsley's columns from 2002 " TARGET="_NEW">www.observer.co.uk/comment/highlights Copyright Guardian Newspapers Limited <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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