Not my words, Mr Speaker
December 2nd, 2007 by Roo ReynoldsThe current Matthew d’Ancona Sunday Supplement reminds me of another one, the best bit of thoughtful commentary on modern political bullshit I’ve recently heard, and I’m glad to see it’s still online. Not My Words, Mr Speaker by Matthew Parris was broadcast a couple of months ago.
Matthew Parris takes a canter through the arid badlands of political language and asks why politicians drape their speeches in the tired glad-rags of stale phrases.
Matthew Parris was an MP before he was a political commentator, and understands this world as well as anyone. He seems to delight in highlighting the clichés which litter political life in Britain. At one point Parris suggests a “ticking time-bomb” as an example of a well-worn phrase to Norman Tebbit. Tebbit, you’ll remember, was injured in the 1984 bomb attack of the Tory party conference in Brighton. Much as I love Matthew Parris, it’s also rather fun to hear him blush at that point.
- Grabbing attention by dramatising with sensational language (holed beneath the waterline)
- Padding (year on year on year)
- Make a question sound like an answer (we need a debate…)
Some brilliant examples, including “Rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic”, “Hearts and minds” and “I’ll take no lectures”. In part two (Real) we hear more modern examples of post New Labour bullshit bingo, including “rolling out”, “we must be seen to walk the talk” and the latest favourite, “across the piece”.
