Trying to research whether arresting people for throwing things at public speakers has become more common after the start of the new war on/of terrorism I came across this amusing and telling tale...
Quote:
The tomato wasn't sun-dried, it wasn't Tuscan and it certainly wasn't on the vine. But when a protester threw it at Tony Blair on a visit to Bristol yesterday, the offending fruit looked as if it had been preparing for the moment all of its life.
The tomato wasn't sun-dried, it wasn't Tuscan and it certainly wasn't on the vine. But when a protester threw it at Tony Blair on a visit to Bristol yesterday, the offending fruit looked as if it had been preparing for the moment all of its life.
Soft and overripe, if not quite rotten, the humble British tom was hurled at the Prime Minister by one of a group of students protesting against British sanctions on Iraq. In a clear breach of Mr Blair's personal no-fly zone, the Mother of All Tomatoes executed a perfect arc before landing with a splat on the back of his checked suit.
Onlookers had visions of Alastair Campbell, Mr Blair's official spokesman, diving through the air like a presidential bodyguard to catch the splat himself. But even the quick-witted spin-doctor was taken by surprise when his boss arrived to open a new further education college in the city amid jeers and heckles from about 70 protesters. Worse still for this notoriously non-stick premier, the tomato managed to cling grimly to its target. For a few agonising seconds, Teflon Tony was no more.
As a clutch of special branch and local officers leapt into the crowd, Mr Blair's scowl seemed to say: "I paid the tax, so where were the police?" A man wearing, appropriately enough, a bomber jacket was bundled away.
After the college opening, an unflappable Mr Blair was chauffeured across town to Bristol City Council's headquarters to give a speech on the differences between the Government and the Tories.
More than 200 teachers, nurses, schoolchildren and business people listened to his new catchphrase, that it was "choice, not chance" that had seen Britain's economy and public services blossom under Labour.
Just to make sure that his audience got the message, Mr Blair used the phrase "choice not chance" no fewer than seven times in a speech that contrasted Labour's record and pledges with Tory plans to privatise and cut investment.
Crucially, the Prime Minister admitted repeatedly that although progress had been made "in every area," a lot more remained to be done to improve public services.
"It is all for one big overarching national purpose: to build a Britain in which prosperity spreads to every corner of the land, every party of every city, every family and child," he said. "Prosperity for all: that is the purpose and radical change and investment over the next five years is what will achieve it. It won't happen by chance, but the choices we as a nation make."
After his speech, Mr Blair embarked on a question-and-answer session with the invited audience, which allowed him to reject renationalisation of the railways - his train arrived 11 minutes late - rule out drug legalisation and promise more help for the homeless.
The Prime Minister said that it would be a "hard slog" to get the rail service up to standard, but "it is no secret" that French and German railways were better than Britain's because of years of investment.
In a reference to his pro-Iraqi hecklers, he also gave one questioner a stout defence of Britain's no-fly zone in southern Iraq. Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait was "an act of absolute barbarity," he said, promising that the UK would continue to "contain him".
Clearly relishing the campaign trail, Mr Blair ended with a warning that Tory cynicism and voter apathy was "the biggest danger of all".
In his clearest hint yet that the general election is nearly upon us, he said: "Your choice is there, make that choice and let's decide the future of this country."
As he left, a tell-tale tomato stain was clearly visible on the back of his suit jacket.
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http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...es-705556.html
That's from 2001. |
