The First Class compartments of the high-speed train

If you peer into the First Class compartments of the high-speed train as it enters the station you will see a number of young men peering into laptops, all in their shirt sleeves.

Does this mean that the temperature in those compartments has become so hot that they have all been forced to take their jackets off? Not so. What they are doing is to show to the outside world that they are working so hard that they have to be free from all possible encumbrances.

Tony Blair is another person who is always photographed in his shirt sleeves. The object here is to show the world not only that he is hard at it but that he is extremely fit.

Unfortunately for Blair, a sharp-eyed photographer recently observed and snapped a small segment of vest obtruding beneath the prime-ministerial shirt, thus proving that the only reason he was able to pose as a toughie was because he had a protective covering of wool next to the skin.

But all this creates a problem for young David Cameron. Were he too to take to appearing in his shirt sleeves he would be accused of imitating Blair, and he has had a bit too much of that already.

Cameron has therefore come up with his own gimmick. Where Blair appears in public without a jacket, Cameron will do so without a tie. Blair's aim is to show that he is fit and tough, Cameron's to show that he is unstuffy and classless. He will not wear the Old School Tie, he will wear no tie at all. Whether anyone is the least bit impressed remains to be seen.

Copyright 2006 Independent Newspapers UK Limited
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