The political apology fascinates me, and not just because I've got a book out called The Apologist. Well partly it's because of that, naturally. But it's also the way in which the language of penance, and arguments over it, have become such a major part of modern political dialogue. Yesterday, for example, Tony Blair went on the Jonathan Dimbleby Show, specifically not to apologise for going to war on Iraq.
What's curious about this is that Blair is an old hand at the Sorry business. This is the man who said sorry for the Irish Potato Famine. That's the Irish Potato Famine of the 19th Century. Only last month he apologised to the families wrongly accused over the bombings in Guildford and Woolwich. Which took place in the 1970s. So clearly, if he had nothing to do with it, if it didn't happen on his watch, Tony will apologise for it. But if it's his fault...
Of course it could be argued, as indeed we did argue in our leader only a few weeks ago, that the problem isn't too few apologies but too many, which swiftly undermine the gesture's emotional currency.
