An insult to Parliament
From Mr Roderick Rudsmith Sir: The awarding of 'Parliamentarian of the Year' (23 November) to the Rt Hon, Tony Blair. MP, was a shocking and gross mistake. Surely you and your fellow judges have confused two concepts, viz. 'parliamentarian' and 'politician', and they are by no means synonymous.
A good case can be made that Mr Blair has uniquely damaged parliamentary democracy, but everyone can surely agree that as a politician he is utterly dominant. The words which Shakespeare puts into the mouth of Cassius come to mind, 'Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world like a Colossus; and we petty men walk under his huge legs, and peep about to find ourselves dishonourable graves' (Julius Caesar, Act I Scene 2). We live in an age of political pygmies, and every one of those who oppose Blair both inside and outside his own party he has seen off ever since winning power in 1997,
This, however, does not make him a great 'parliamentarian', and you have done the concept a grave disservice in granting your award to someone who demonstrates such contempt for Parliament, making any excuse to avoid attending its debates. Why, he even stoops to announcing to the press the contents of the Queen's speech, thus demeaning Parliament and insulting our sovereign at the same time.
Roderick B. Hudsmith
Wells, Somerset
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