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| Prime Minister Tony Blair has a cup of tea during a discussion with health experts about future funding for the NHS at the 'Kings Fund' in London in April 2005. (AFP) |
A coffee mug held by Prime Minister Tony Blair during a newspaper interview proved to be an appropriate prop todrive homehis message about staying in power.
Speaking with The Times at his country retreat outside London, Blair defied growing pressure to set a date for his departure from office while holding a blue-and-white mug bearing the characteristics of his name, Anthony.
"Anthony, your refined inner voice drives your thoughts and deeds," it read on one side.
"You're a man who's in charge others follow your lead. You possess great depth and have a passionate mind. Others think you're influential and kind."
The other side includes morequirkyand perhaps less flattering details.
The animal associated with Anthony is the Marabou, which is a large African stork which scavenges for food. This plant associated with his name is garlic and the color is yellow.
The name's Latin origin means "priceless one", according to the words on the mug. Commentators saw it perhaps as a warning to critics that he is irreplaceable.
Under the rubric personality, Anthony is described as "humble and private, you view the world through a dreamy and reflective lens."
In the interview, Blair warned that if the party kept talking about a change in leadership, people would think the government was paralyzed and hadrun out of steam.
Blair promised after his party won an uprecedented third election in May 2005 that he would step down before the next general election, which must take place no later than in 2010.
His pledge has fueled endless speculation about his plans, prompting him to say in May that he would give ample time to his chosen successor, finance minister Gordon Brown, to settle in before the next general election.
(Agencies) |
英國首相布萊爾在接受一家報紙采訪時拿的咖啡杯成了他不想卸任的最好證據(jù)。
布萊爾在位于倫敦郊外的住處接受了《泰晤士報》的此次采訪，采訪中，布萊爾仍然拒絕透露自己的離職時間表，同時，他手里還拿了一個藍白相間的杯子，上面寫著他的名字--Anthony（Tony是Anthony的昵稱）。
杯子的一面上寫道：“安東尼，你高尚的內(nèi)心愿望左右著你的言行。”
“你是一個有領(lǐng)導能力的人。你很深刻，并擁有一顆充滿熱情的心。別人都認為你是個有影響力的人物，而且又頗具親和力。”
杯子的另外一面寫著一些更奇怪的文字，但其中的吹捧成分可能少些。
杯子上與“安東尼”相伴的動物是鸛，是生長在非洲的一種體積龐大的食腐動物。而與"安東尼"相伴的植物則是黃色的大蒜。
從杯子上的文字了解到，Anthony起源于拉丁語，意思是"無價之寶"。一些評論家們認為這是布萊爾在向公眾提示：他是不可取代的。
在紅色的名字下面，還有一段這樣的描述“你謙遜而低調(diào)，你用一種平和而愛思考的心態(tài)對待這個世界”。
布萊爾在采訪中說，如果工黨一直盯著換任的問題不放，英國民眾會覺得政府已經(jīng)癱瘓、喪失了執(zhí)政能力。
2005年5月，工黨在大選中第三次成功當政后，布萊爾承諾自己將在2010年下屆大選前離職。
他的許諾引起了關(guān)于他離職計劃的各種猜測，這使得布萊爾不得不在5月份做出回應，他說，他會讓他的繼任者--現(xiàn)任財務大臣戈登·布朗在下屆大選前有充分的時間做好接任準備。
(英語點津姍姍編輯)
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