When Barbara Castle told Harold Wilson that renegotiating Britain's membership of Europe would end in 'a messy middle-of-the-road muddle', Wilson replied that he felt 'at his best in a messy middle-of-the-road muddle'. This from Wilson's official biographer, Philip Ziegler. Wilson had one or two good jokes, unlike Callaghan or poor Attlee, so often the butt of other people's. Tony Blair is not much given to joking. The three memorable gags of his career have come as it nears its end. It's interesting, in a person who likes to look serious even when he smiles, that they take him to the brink of buffoonery.

LRB 7 September 2006 | PDF Download