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  1. Long reads
7 May 2007

Blair-kus

Has Tony Blair's reign been an aesthetic golden age or a triumph of style over substance? The NS's f

By Staff Blogger

Andrew Billen

The spin unspun, the
grin undone, an election
That cannot be won.

Tom Paulin

Always the self
in a mirror
and always – in one word – protestant.

Sebastian Horsley

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You can count on your
Prime Minister to lay down
your life for his country.

Rizwan Ahmed

Grinning pirouettes;
Far away limbs rain down in
Thunderous applause.

Nicholas Blincoe

Not one of us but
unlocatable, more of
a stranger each day.

David Shrigley

In the night I will
Make his portrait on a wall
In blood with a stick.

Amit Chaudhuri

Saying “Yes” to writing a haiku was wrong, perhaps – and that, too, about a man who’s become less and less known for having said “No” to the wrong decision.

Sarfraz Manzoor

Blair was here ten years
But the tears began after
Forty-five minutes.

Alice O’Keeffe

Bee Gees, Cliff Richard
his natural companions
slow cultural death

Glen Neath

I can’t recall the
bad news given on the good
day they buried it.

Lynsey Hanley

“We’re all middle-class,”
He said, causing me to choke
On my Pot Noodle.

Paul Smith (Maxïmo Park)

A permanent prickle
Forever infested
A red-eyed monster still lurks.

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Select and enter your email address Your weekly guide to the best writing on ideas, politics, books and culture every Saturday. The best way to sign up for The Saturday Read is via saturdayread.substack.com The New Statesman's quick and essential guide to the news and politics of the day. The best way to sign up for Morning Call is via morningcall.substack.com Our Thursday ideas newsletter, delving into philosophy, criticism, and intellectual history. The best way to sign up for The Salvo is via thesalvo.substack.com Stay up to date with NS events, subscription offers & updates. Weekly analysis of the shift to a new economy from the New Statesman's Spotlight on Policy team. The best way to sign up for The Green Transition is via spotlightonpolicy.substack.com
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