Helena on the establishment

Anthony Barnett (London, OK):  Helena Kennedy has emailed to say, "thank you for your response to the article on Jonathan Powell. I  was taken aback by the jibe of "preening" but then those of us who  have been Blair's critics have to expect this kind of thing. The idea  that Powell is  "of the establishment but anti-establishment" is  ridiculous. What he really means is that he is not underpinned by any  belief system. He thinks that one establishment - that of the Right  was replaced by one of the Left - if only it had been true. There  might then have been greater change. Instead we got more Thatcherism,  more privatisation and even more centralised government. Those who ran Blair's machine, like Powell and Alastair Campbell and Philip Gould  will get away lightly yet they too profoundly damaged our politics,  urging Blair on. As for preening - yuck. I can think of those who did, men as well as women. But we have to take this stuff on the chin."