I was going to start a series, today, about the prime minister’s failure to listen. I was going to start with a quote from his 6 May speech, just after he had won his third term, about how he had learnt his lesson and was going to listen to the electorate. I was then going to quote various news sources reporting various actions Tony Blair had taken which run entirely against the spirit of democracy. I would have started with the appointment of the unelected Andrew Adonis as an education minister. I would have included today’s story that he will be forcing through his plan for ID cards, perhaps even resorting to the Parliament Act. And this list would have built up over the coming weeks and months.

But then I went back to his original speech. It turns out that although I’ve been going around thinking he’ll be listening to us, that’s not what he said. He said “I have listened and I have learned.” That’s past tense, note, from 6 May. He’s stopped listen now. He stopped listening, probably, the moment the polls closed.

So, unelected ministers and steamrollered bills aren’t a turnaround at all. More fool me.

Tags: tonyblair, election