Business minister, Baroness Vadera, surely now regrets seeing the signs of economic recovery in her recent ITV interview. It recalls the last recession, in the early ’90s, when the then Chancellor, Norman “green shoots” Lamont gained a reputation for verbal faux pas. “If it isn’t hurting, it isn’t working,” he said. (Remember that one?) Though, pressed on his record later, he said “Je ne regrette rien”.
Even Gordon Brown’s “no return to boom and bust” mantra, true enough for a decade, has come back to haunt him. Mind you, it could be worse. John Prescott could still be in the Cabinet.
From Margaret Thatcher’s assertion that “the lady’s not for turning” to Tony Blair feeling “the hand of history on my shoulder”, leading politicians have a way with good lines that occasionally work in their favour - and entertain the nation - but often come back and bite them; especially, when they prove untrue.
But there are no absolutes here. Bill Clinton’s “I did not have sexual relations with that woman” was a barefaced lie, though arguably that worked for him in the end as he rode out resignation calls and the threat of impeachment.
In business, getting it right is just as crucial for your image and reputation. Gerald Ratner’s legendary gaffe when he referred to one of his company’s products as “crap” during a speech to the Institute of Directors still resonates today. A famous Bill Gates quote might have been a better bet for Ratner: “If you can’t make it good, at least make it look good”.
Or as millionaire-inventor, James Dyson says: “enjoy failure and learn from it. You can never learn from success,” speaking from experience after a lengthy struggle to break into the UK market with his bag-less vacuum cleaner.
And so to close with that past master of self-promotion, Richard Branson, who has the right sort of good line down to a fine art. “With the casino and the beds,” he said, of the six new Virgin Airbus 380 planes, “our passengers will now have at least two ways to get lucky on one of our flights”.
Peter Coë