Quote of the day 26th August 2016
On British Prime Ministers ...
"The idea that there are simple heroes and villains collapses under the weight of evidence.
As does the idea that politicians were so much better in the past.
No, they weren't. They were less experienced, less in touch, less broad-minded and less accountable. We are much better served now.
Reading the history of prime ministers walks you along a long line of people who were elected to parliament in their early twenties, hardly visited their constituencies and had little experience of other social classes. They had no way of gauging public opinion and weren't much interesting in doing so, being pretty contemptuous of it.
The idea that we now have politicians who, unlike in the past, do not have experience of 'the real world' is actually the opposite of the truth."
(Extract from an article by Danny Finkelstein in the Times on Wednesday about a challenge he has set himself to read a biography of every British Prime Minister.)
"The idea that there are simple heroes and villains collapses under the weight of evidence.
As does the idea that politicians were so much better in the past.
No, they weren't. They were less experienced, less in touch, less broad-minded and less accountable. We are much better served now.
Reading the history of prime ministers walks you along a long line of people who were elected to parliament in their early twenties, hardly visited their constituencies and had little experience of other social classes. They had no way of gauging public opinion and weren't much interesting in doing so, being pretty contemptuous of it.
The idea that we now have politicians who, unlike in the past, do not have experience of 'the real world' is actually the opposite of the truth."
(Extract from an article by Danny Finkelstein in the Times on Wednesday about a challenge he has set himself to read a biography of every British Prime Minister.)
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