One the things that particularly riles me about the New Labour Project is the language deployed by its proponents, and I want to focus on Gordon Brown-Speak today. (see also :
http://limits-2-growth.blogspot.com - Decontructing the New Labour Project).
Two of Brown's preferred metaphors (for himself !) are "The Good Father" (of the New Labour Family) and, most recently, "The Ship's Captain" (based, apparently, on a favourite short story by Joseph Conrad) who is steering the British economy through "turbulent times".
With regard to "The Father" metaphor, it is the aphorism "Success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan" which particularly sums up New Labour's record in office for me. Here is a Government which has called every passing economic success its own, and denied any role in these when they turned out to have a serious downside.
Let's take for instance, the current "favoured" policy of governments buying shares in banks. Now as far as I can make out "The Father" of this approach is United States private investor Warren Buffett (with his recent purchase of shares in Goldman Sachs), and not Gordon Brown.
As it happens, Mr Buffett likes to play his Ukulele, and I'm going to strongly recommend that our Prime Minister takes up this instrument for it brings me nicely on to his other preferred metaphor : "The Ship's Captain".
The only successful British sea-faring prime minister in modern times has to, my knowledge, been the Conservative Sir Edward Heath, who skippered his yacht crew into victory on the world class racing circuit, but, wasn't, by his own admission, much good in the galley. The help of former ship's steward, and later Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott might been useful here !
Returning to Gordon Brown, I'm reminded of the sea-shanty in which "Captain Brown" (yes, really !) played his Ukulele as the ship went down", perhaps after hitting a large iceberg. Here are a couple of verses from "Nancy Lee" :
"I sing you a tale of the Nancy Lee
A ship that got shipwrecked at sea
The bravest man was Captain Brown
Who played his ukulele as the ship went down....
....All the crew were in despair
Some rushed here and others rushed there
But the Captain sat in the captain's chair
And he played the ukulele as the ship went down."
Incidentally, folks who like a good old sea shanty might be interested in "Why I've lately been bound for Botany Bay" at http://the-green-man-project.blogspot.com/
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