Prince Charles scores over Pokhran

What did Tony Blair have to say about Pokhran-II?
That might well be, for an Indian reader, a legitimate starting point when reading Alistair Campbell's Diaries, a fascinating record over a nine-year period (1994-2003) of an insider, of the functioning of the British Labour Party, the government of Prime Minister Tony Blair and of Blair himself. Campbell was part of the decision-making processes through those years and even sat in on Cabinet meetings despite the protestations of the Cabinet Secretary. The Diaries, thus, provide a remarkable first-hand account of a close observer. The narrative is informative and in-the-face. That comes, no doubt, from Campbell's past as a newspaperman.

Trade unions and crime were the two issues that had brought Blair into prominence and, in due course, saw him lead the party to make the transition to New Labour and into government. Campbell lists many successes "" Northern Ireland, an Independent Bank of England, a Scottish Parliament and a Welsh Assembly, elected mayors, reform of the House of Lords, regenerated cities, something close to full employment, a minimum wage, new investments in education and health, decline in crime, etc. Blair comes through as youthful, personable, committed, loyal, decisive, a leader with a "modernizing zeal ... enormous drive and vision" determined to "make a difference". He prides himself on style "" though there was a lot more to him than style and sound bite "" wearing bright coloured shirts and ties, even teenager clothes, in contrast to Brown, who always wore a white shirt and a red tie.

The Diaries "" understandably, since elections are fought and won on domestic issues "" is mainly about domestic politics, policies and personalities. There is the minutiae of the daily struggle to be on top of events and manage people and the Press.

The Diaries brings out the maturity of British democracy with leaders being conscious of their limitations both in regard to what the Party and the people would find acceptable. Campbell mentions Blair's discussions in 2002 "" five years before he demitted office "" on the pros and cons of the timing of a graceful exit and observing, time and again, that two terms seemed about the limit. The Diaries record free debates, with cabinet and party colleagues speaking their minds and airing differences in public and private. There is no hint, at any point, of the Prime Minister being deified; indeed, there are several references to opposition to turning the Parliamentary system into a Presidential one. There are some interesting insights into the problems of governance when one moves from the visionary to workmanlike phase. This involves setting the agenda, getting the Ministers to work with their officials on a line laid down by the PM even if the minister/officials happened to be unwilling or unable to do that, calling ministers to order and getting them to do the "right thing and then explaining to the public who may have a reason to be concerned".

On Kosovo "" the first war fought on the Continental soil since the War "" it was Blair who, according to the Diaries, was driving a cautious, contemplative Clinton to adopt an interventionist policy and then carry it through to its logical conclusion by sending in ground troops. In contrast, on Iraq, Blair saw his role as restraining any precipitate US intervention. Bush himself seems to acknowledge the efficacy of this approach remarking to Campbell, following a meeting at Camp David on September 7, 2002, during which Blair persuaded Bush, in the face of opposition from Cheney to seek a second UNSC resolution, "I suppose you can tell the story of how Tony flew in and pulled the crazed unilateralist back from the brink."

So what did Blair have to say about Pokhran II? For May 13, 1998, the entry in the Diaries is regarding how to contain the fallout of the story in the Times about Prince Charles having opposed the Order of the Garter for the Japanese Emperor! The first reference to the Indian nuclear tests is on May 15 and refers to the Birmingham G-8 Summit "row" over whether to "deplore" or "condemn" the tests with "" no surprises here "" Yeltsin and Chirac arguing for a softer line. Given the fact that The Diaries had been vetted by the Cabinet Office and other government agencies, we will have to wait a while to know what discussions about the tests actually took place.

Campbell says that he wrote about two million words in his Diaries and this volume contains only about 350,000. So we can "" I certainly will "" look forward to more insights into the Blair Years in the volumes to come.

Log on to www.bsbazaar.com/book-review

---

The Blair Years
Extracts from Alastair Campbell Diaries

Hutchinson, London
794 pages