Whatever you think about Tony Blair, he’s an amazing politician. Every European leader is aiming to be the first to visit the O’Bama White House – and there he is at the National Prayer Breakfast – the one whom the Portadown Orangemen used to call Mr Blur. I defend to the last my right to have faith-shaped political views, but I can’t really cope with politicians ‘doing God’
Meanwhile back to the Special Relationship – which I tend to believe is a load of wistful rubbish. The significant relationship of course is the Irish-American one – have you heard the Corrigan Brothers song, ‘There’s no one as Irish as Barack O’Bama’?
But of course it’s not as simple as that. I’ve just signed up to be member No 30021 of the Fans of Sully Sullenberger on Facebook. Did you listen to the cockpit voice recorder – ‘Are you able to return to La Guardia?’ ‘Unable’ Wonderful – so clipped. So Biggles. And then there was the film of the homecoming. His wife introduces him as ‘the man who makes my cup of tea in the morning.’ And the man himself says, ‘We were just doing the job we were trained to do.’ Fantastic. So understated. So British. The special relationship lives!
I shall practise being similarly monosyllabic at the endless church meetings. Sully had them all safely landed in the Hudson before an SEC meeting would have got through the apologies.