Arts

Remember what was intended

POSSIBILITY FOR FAILURE OR CRITICISM

WHAT a nerve-racking task it must have been in compiling the first-ever dictionary of the English language.

Someone was always going to say, “You missed out -“, or “It doesn’t mean that!”

Indeed, that first dictionary was reworked many times.

With that possibility for failure or criticism in mind, Samuel Johnson might easily have decided not to attempt his great work.

Instead, he wrote in the preface the following: “When it shall be found that much is omitted, let it not be forgotten that much likewise is performed.”

Criticism is important, but when we criticise let’s not attach too much importance to the mistakes.

Always remember what was intended and the courage it took to stand up and try.

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Arts

Some things don’t change

A BUDDING ADVANCE

RICHARD JEFFERIES, the son of a Wiltshire farmer, ran away from home twice in search of adventure.

First, he aimed for Paris, then America, but he ended up back on the home farm both times.

He began scribbling and made a name for himself as a nature writer.

Indeed, his communion with the natural world was regarded by some as mystical, which suggests that he must have paid closer attention to its wonders than most of us do.

Writing of woods in Sussex in January 1884, he said, “The lost leaves measure our years; they are gone as the days are gone, and the bare branches silently speak of a new year, slowly advancing its buds, its foliage, and fruit.”

The year 1884 seems such a long time ago, but not much will have changed in the woods, and our lives still have their seasons. The supposedly empty times are not forsaken; they are necessary in as much as they clear the way for the new.

In whichever way you need it the most, the beginning of a new year is always full of new buds, foliage and fruit.

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Britain, Government, Politics, Society

Sir Tony Blair

OPINION

THIS day was always going to come. Convention dictates that all British prime ministers eventually join the Order of the Garter – even the ones, like James Callaghan, that nobody actually voted for.

And let me make it clear that I have no loyalty or political affiliation to the Labour Party: in large part I’m a centrist who believe ministers should keep the ship of state afloat.

Certainly, like most people, there are aspects of Mr Blair’s behaviour that I find objectionable: his multi-billion money grubbing empire acquired from dodgy dictators after leaving office; his refusal to accept the Brexit result.

Despite that, though, there is also much to admire. He was the Labour leader who understood the concerns of Middle Britain, instead of dismissing them – as the Left so often does – with a sneer.

This open-minded, pluralistic approach allowed him to sell liberal policies to an essentially conservative nation.

The Labour of old redistributed wealth through vicious taxation, especially in the middle classes. New Labour under Tony Blair focused on growing the economy. Prosperity, this business-friendly party understood, increased revenue.

Instead of demonising aspiration, Blair openly celebrated it. He promised with political vigour to be “tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime”. Police numbers rose by twelve per cent during his premiership.

But equally he recognised that crime would never fall unless he also tackled deprivation and hopelessness.

Where Blair really stood out was in foreign policy. Few young people today understand how, before the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, the spectre of Irish republican terrorism hung over the streets of Belfast and London alike.

After 9/11, Blair saw Islamism for the threat to liberal democracy it was, cracked down on domestic extremists and asserted abroad the values of freedom, tolerance and the rule of law.

There are many that disagree with him on Iraq. I respect the principles these people hold but I continue to believe that Britain did the right thing in overthrowing Saddam Hussein. True leadership seldom wins friends.

More recently, too, he has been a voice of reason on the pandemic. He was an early advocate of mass-testing and for the vaccinated to be exempt from lockdown. Many lives – and businesses – might have been saved if ministers had listened.

Tony Blair created a fairer, more tolerant country at home and stood up for desperate people overseas. Whatever his flaws and mistakes, that is the legacy of a statesman. It is right that his achievements be so recognised.

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