Spot the Difference. posted by Richard Seymour

Let's have some fun. I have two quotes for you. And, when I print them here, I want you to try and guess the authors. I'll make it relatively easy. One of them is Michael Howard and the other is Tony Blair. I won't provide links, for reasons comprehensible to any passing snail, and I would appreciate it if you gave it a stab without searching Google or looking it up otherwise. Ready? Okay, now the quotes are both on the subject of crime, so here they are in no particular order.

Number one:

"As a society we are in danger of being overrun by values which eat away at people's respect for themselves, each other, their homes and their neighbourhood.

"Most damaging of all has been the dramatic decline in personal responsibility. Many people now believe that they are no longer wholly responsible for their actions."

Number two:

"People ... want rules, order and proper behaviour...

...They want the society of respect. They want the society of responsibility. They want the community where the decent, law-abiding majority are in charge. Where those who play by the rules do well, and those who don't get punished."

The reason I've stuck in those elipses is because there are certain verbal tics which both politicians have, and which are dead give-aways. In fact, I would guess that some of you will be able to work it out purely on the rhetorical style. The answers will be published tomorrow.

Update: The answer is, Howard said number one and Blair said number two. But of course, in a deeper and more meaningful way, they both said number two.