The resulting crisis is then used to legitimise privatisation. Beleaguered on all sides, Blair believed that in front of an audience of venture capitalists, he was finally amongst friends. His speech was an appeal to New Labour's real constituency to come to his aid. But his intemperate remarks reveal a fundamental flaw in his grand design to refashion British society along the lines of his favoured American model. He believed that the constant assertion by Labour's well-oiled PR machine that there is no such thing as opposing class interests would be enough to convince everyone of the error of their ways.
Propaganda can indeed be an effective weapon.
But in the final analysis, it cannot persuade working people to ignore the reality of their own lives. Moreover, there is a widespread recognition that when the private sector so beloved by Blair last held sway, the conditions of life for the majority of people were appalling. Even within the Labour Party, Blair's remarks caused disquiet. Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott was faced with the unenviable task of addressing a meeting of public sector workers immediately afterwards. When the private sector failed, the public sector stepped in locally and nationally.