Changing the guard
- 17 May 07, 12:58 PM
I have a real sense this morning that change is in the air. The cast list of players on the political stage has altered overnight.
It is not just that Gordon Brown has been confirmed and will soon speak as "our next prime minister" and will promise to rebuild the public's trust in government. Alex Salmond will, I believe, command headlines way beyond Holyrood as he uses his status as first minister to speak out on a wide range of issues "for the people of Scotland". Another character who will soon feature regularly on our screens is Nicolas Sarkosy - France's flamboyant and aggressive new president.
And, as if to make the point, the faces of the soon-to-be-past, Tony Blair and George W. Bush, will feature today at their last joint news conference at the White House. Power is passing from those whose views were forged in the tragedy of 9/11 to the post 9/11 generation.
PS: That is why, I suspect, the Cameroons have tried to get in on "the change" story by picking a fight over grammar schools.
