I recommend a very amusing book put together by Matthew Parris and Phil Mason. ‘Mission Accomplished!’ is a collection of “things politicans wish they hadn’t said”. I include 5 below as a taster:
- “This is a great day for France” Richard Nixon in Paris for the funeral of President Pompidou, 1974.
- “It’s not a day for sound bites; really, we can leave those at home. But I feel the hand of history on our shoulder.” Tony Blair, on the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland, 1998.
- “What a load of old crap that was” Jose Maria Aznar, Spanish Prime Minister, unaware his microphone was still on after giving a speech at an EU Summit in Barcelona, March 2002.
- “In the four years I have had the privilege of being your Member of Parliament…” Opening lines of letter from Gyles Brandreth, to the 2000 inhabitants of the village of Saughall, Cheshire, assuring them he remained ‘in touch’ with his electors, November 1996. The village was in the neighbouring constituency.
- “Do you do stand-up?” Cherie Blair greeting a wheelchair-bound comedian at the Labour Party conference, September 2005.
