Thomas to Tony

Sir Thomas More was beheaded because he would not swear an oath accepting King Henry VIII as Supreme Head of the Church. Before his untimely demise Sir Thomas wrote Utopia, which offers this advice for Tony Blair on the merits of guiding policy indirectly:

"The only result of this will be that while I try to cure others of madness, I myself rave along with them...Either I would think different thoughts from the rest, and that would be as if I had no thoughts, or else I would agree with them and thus (as Terence's Mitio Says) be an accessory to their madness. I do not understand what you mean by saying that a man should guide policy indirectly and should strive to make the best of things, so that what is bad will at least be made as good as possible. In councils there is no place for silent and unwilling acquiescence. A man must openly approve of the worst plans and consent to the most pernicious resolutions. One would pass for a spy or even a traitor, if he approved of such plans only grudgingly. A man has no chance to do good when his colleagues are more likely to corrupt the best of men than be corrected themselves. He will either be corrupted himself by his colleagues, or, if he remains sound and innocent, he will be blamed for the folly and knavery of others. He is far from being able to mend matters by guiding policy indirectly!"

The first casualty in the war of error may have been the truth, but the most enduring will be the damage done to Tony Blair's career. The second most enduring casualty will be the damage done to Colin Powell's career.

Both men should read Utopia, and perhaps Plato's Republic.