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A Point of View: In the Grey Zone

12/01/2024

In the Grey Zone

BBC Radio 4 - A Point of View, In the Grey Zone

Mark Damazer on how we judge our political masters.

Mark Damazer argues that our established ways of judging politicians need a rethink.

Mark Damazer says we need to find a different vocabulary to define political leadership and achievement. 

'The rhetoric that accompanied Alistair Darling's death,' Mark writes, 'raises some age-old questions about the way we think and judge our political masters'.  

He questions why 'this torrent of respect, admiration and affection' can only happen when a politician dies. 'You simply don't talk this way about any living politician', he says, 'unless you're a cultist'.  

The present way of judging politicians, he believes, gives us little idea who is any good at getting the job done.  

Producer: Adele Armstrong 
Sound: Peter Bosher 
Production coordinator: Gemma Ashman 
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith

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