Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Prologue
- 1 Deception and the rhetoric of Athenian identity
- 2 Deceiving the enemy: negotiation and anxiety
- 3 Athens and the ‘noble lie’
- 4 The rhetoric of anti-rhetoric: Athenian oratory
- 5 Thinking with the rhetoric of anti-rhetoric
- Epilogue
- Bibliography
- Index locorum
- General index
4 - The rhetoric of anti-rhetoric: Athenian oratory
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 September 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Prologue
- 1 Deception and the rhetoric of Athenian identity
- 2 Deceiving the enemy: negotiation and anxiety
- 3 Athens and the ‘noble lie’
- 4 The rhetoric of anti-rhetoric: Athenian oratory
- 5 Thinking with the rhetoric of anti-rhetoric
- Epilogue
- Bibliography
- Index locorum
- General index
Summary
This morning, I listened to some of the comments that the Labour party was spinning in the media. I understand that it is in the nature of politics to oppose. By opposition, one questions, and by questioning one elicits for the common good knowledge that can make policies work better. To mislead the country and paint a picture that is not true is not to oppose but to spin yarns. Spinning yarns is not the traditional role of the Opposition. To spin yarns in the media is to mislead the public and the business community. Yarn spinning wrecks confidence in the country; it makes the country look inadequate and international investors become suspicious. To spin yarns is not clever. It is too self-interested and too self-serving. When the election comes, the electorate will not be fooled.
Before the hon. Member for Cunninghame North (Mr Wilson) leaves with his electronic device, could you confirm, Madam Speaker, that there is a ban, enforced by yourself, on electronic devices? When an hon. Gentleman has a message from Mr Mandelson on his electronic device, which he reads at the Dispatch Box, I suspect that that is a new departure for the House.
The Labour Party under Tony Blair is the party of ‘soundbites’ and ‘spin-doctors’. The Conservative Party under John Major was revealed to be the party of ‘sleaze’.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Deception and Democracy in Classical Athens , pp. 202 - 241Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2000