Writing in The Times today columnist Robert Crampton noted:
I know that “scum” comment was a bit out of order, but for me Angela Rayner turned things round in short order with that crafty conference ciggie picture the following day. Why? Because she looked, in truth, anything but crafty. She looked, rather, magnificently defiant.
The photo Crampton was referring to can be seen here.
I’ll need to check her voting record on smoking-related issues but I’d be (very) surprised if Rayner was a potential ally, or whether it would do us much good even if she was.
Nevertheless I agree with Crampton. Regardless of her comment about Boris there is something ‘magnificently defiant’ about that photo.
It reminds me of Claire Fox’s remark that many anti-smoking measures are counter-productive because all they do is encourage smokers to “reach for their fags in defiance”.
It also explains why many directors still use cigarettes as an important prop on stage and screen.
A picture, they say, is worth a thousand words and if you want to say something about a character in a few seconds smoking is one of the best and most immediate ways do so.
It might not always represent defiance but increasingly - in an age when fewer and fewer people smoke - that’s exactly what it does represent, together with a certain type of rebelliousness and individualism.
So while I’m not a fan of Angela Rayner I couldn’t help but enjoy that picture to which I responded with a small but silent cheer.