Land of hope and glory
An editorial for the new era
TONY BLAIR was swept into power promising that “things can only get better”. Who could deny that they have? In the space of six weeks, Britain is a different place. Consumers are confident. Politicians are decent. Britain's sportsmen, feeble up to now, are winning things (beating Australia at cricket and Italy at football, for heaven's sake). Even the weather is better. The cartoonist Matt in the Daily Telegraph caught the mood perfectly: out for a stroll, a little boy asks his father, “Daddy, why does Tony Blair let earthquakes happen?”
This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Land of hope and glory”
From the June 14th 1997 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionDiscover more
Lessons from the failure of Northvolt
Governments blew billions on a battery champion. Time to welcome foreign investors instead
How to make a success of peace talks with Vladimir Putin
The key is robust security guarantees for Ukrainians
Javier Milei: “My contempt for the state is infinite”
Argentina’s president is idolised by the Trumpian right. They should get to know him better
Tariff threats will do harm, even if Donald Trump does not impose them
The risk of a trade war is uncomfortably high
Peace in Lebanon is just a start
Donald Trump must build on Joe Biden’s belated success
From Nixon to China, to Trump to Tehran
Iran is weak. For America’s next president that creates an opportunity