August 3, 2006 5:38 PM BST
Did anyone notice a strange speech by Tony Blair on Monday? He was talking about the decline of tribal politics - the old-fashioned kind where Right was Right and Left was Left and you either identified with one or the other. Now, he said, each of the main parties borrows freely from the policies of the other side so that their views on most issues are broadly similar and people don't know where they belong any more (this is certainly true in the area of criminal justice where I work).
Blair went on to describe this behaviour as "rampant cross-dressing", as if policies were clothes, and the Labour Party had just sneaked into the Conservative Party's bedroom and tried on some tax cuts in front of the mirror. I wonder what made him think of it. Cross-dressing is not the first image to come to mind when thinking of the practice he describes. Is there a subliminal message? Is Blair himself a secret tranny? Is he saying that cross-dressing is a fact of life, just as borrowing other parties' policies is a fact of life? Or is he saying that this is a dubious practice best described by a socially-unacceptable metaphor?
Personally I wish that cross-dressing was rampant in our society. I'd be on the front line.
For those who missed it, the story is here:
http://politics.guardian.[...]00.html 
If I recall correctly, many years back, a member of the British Parliament was caught wearing stockings and garters while in the company of his mistress. And rumour has it, a late Prime Minister in Canada used to wear dresses while talking to spirits. In Toronto, we have a TG running for Mayor at every election. And with gay politicians now a norm in government, why shouldn't a tranny also have the privilege of serving her constituents if they so choose to elect her. Think of it! It would be a boon to our wish of tolerable acceptance in society!
