From Mr I. Waugh
I have been a fan of Charles Flores’ writing skills for nearly 20 years, ever since I first met him when he was Head of Radio at Xandir Malta.
By the time we met he was already a vastly experienced journalist and published writer.
Today there is nothing I enjoy more than reading his articles on-line in The Malta Independent on Sunday – in fact I actually collect his “Opinions”, so I have the opportunity to read his work again and again (which always fascinates me because of that certain wry smile he seems to inject into his writings!).
I was particularly interested in his comments about political speeches last Sunday.
We have enjoyed a Labour government in the UK since May 1997 and despite the controversial move by our Tony to back America on Iraq, this government has without doubt changed the face of Britain.
Life in the UK BT (Before Tony) was a different place. General elections during dear old Maggie’s time were punctuated with long, long, boring, boring, yawn inducing political dialogues. Great sermons delivered by her and her out of touch boys in the Cabinet.
Maggie finally hung up her blue handbag in 1990. We then endured the sleaze ridden days of John Major who bored the practically comatose poor electorate and future generations of UK voters. His doomed “family values” proclamations have become legendary! Since then there has been a whole raft of Tory leaders in opposition.
When the great John Smith died suddenly in May 1994, the race was on in the Labour Party to find a new fresh charismatic leader to bring politics and the issues that matter back to the ordinary people of Britain. Tony Blair was that man.
Our Tony is a politician of few words. Someone whose speeches are direct, short and to the point. He also seems to have a sense of clever wit.
In 1997, Blair’s short sharp speeches along with the New Labour agenda swept the Tories aside in a manner hardly seen before in British politics. Labour won a landslide 179-seat majority.
So in this politically charged somewhat stifling environment, I wonder if the hungry politicians in Malta will take a leaf out of Tony’s book and, as Charles Flores hints, maybe introduce a little sharp carefully constructed wit in their campaign to win over the electorate. Don’t get me wrong, clever wit is good ... stand-up comedy is another matter!
As in broadcasting, size really does matter! Short, well defined and to the point is good! With broadcast features and interviews, research has shown that after three minutes the listener or viewer is prone to lose interest and therefore the point – surely this can be applied to political speechmaking!
Politics is pretty low on the day-to-day agenda in the UK. However, the political scene in Malta is legendary! It seems to eat into every aspect of daily life – everything seems to be a political issue. Whichever way you turn you are a “marked man”! Indeed one of my enduring personal regrets was being so politically misunderstood!
Politics can be genuinely “interesting” (trust me on that one!). It’s down to the politicians to stimulate the voter and, for all our sakes, get to the point!
Ian Waugh
LONDON