The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge - Searching for Churchill at COP26

Episode Date: November 2, 2021

In all the big-name speeches in Glasgow, was there anyone with a Churchillian standard of speech in what is clearly a world crisis?  You be the judge.  And what's so special about Churchill anyway. A new book will have you thinking.  And finally, a good news COVID update.

And hello there, Peter Mansbridge here. You are just moments away from the latest episode of The Bridge. Today, searching for Churchill at COP26. Our podcast is brought to you by Questrade, Canada's fastest-growing and award-winning online broker. Tired of getting dinged with fees every time you buy or sell U.S. stocks? Well, good news. With Questrade, you don't have to. You can hold U.S. dollars in your trading account and avoid expensive, forced conversion fees every time you trade U.S. stocks. Switch today and get up to $50 worth of free trades. Visit Questrade.com to open an account and use promo code QUEST. Conditions apply. And hello there, Peter Mansbridge here once again in Dornick, Scotland.

And it's not far from Glasgow. And Glasgow, of course, is home base this week for leaders from around the world at COP26, the big climate conference. And it really got underway yesterday. And the headlines across the papers, at least here in the United Kingdom on this day, are all about deforestation. And that was quite an accomplishment. If it's real, if it's real, like anything else on the climate story,

and we go back a couple of decades at different climate conferences and say, hey, this is great, but is it real? And it turns out not to be real. So is this one real? You got a hundred countries, the leaders of which signed a deal yesterday, agreed to a deforestation plan. Now keep in mind, these countries represent 85% of the world's forests. And they've agreed they will stop entirely deforestation by the year 2030. That's quite a commitment.

That's quite a promise. And it's especially so if they keep it. But that is the crunch question, right? Will they keep the promise? Will they all keep the promise? And will it have an impact? You know, one of the main proponents of deforestation has actually been Boris Johnson from here in the UK, who's turning out to at least paint himself as Mr. Climate Change King this week.

He's pushing hard and making big speeches. And speeches is what we're going to talk about today. The deforestation thing, I'll let the experts play that one out. I want to talk about the nature of the speech. And I think, you know, a couple of times over the past, I don't know, two years that we've been doing the bridge, we've talked about the power of a great speech. And our great speech is still made in today's world. You know, people my age fall back on the Kennedy inauguration speech in

1961, January. Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country. And a variety of other great lines in that speech. Now, that's not to say there hasn't been another good speech since then. Sure, there have been. But there have not been a lot of great speeches. Even Kennedy would point back to Churchill as the great speechmaker at a time of crisis. So let's talk about that for a moment.

Speeches, you know, I've been given speeches for 25 years. I don't pretend to be a great speech maker. But I can tell a room that's listening and a room that's engaged from rooms that are not. When you're up at the podium and you're speaking and you hear a lot of coughing, that's not a good sign. When you're up at the podium and you look back and you see, you know, people kind of drifting out that back door for, you know, a health break or a coffee break or what have you.

That's not a good sign. When you're at the podium and you can literally hear a pin drop, that's a good sign. People are engaged. And the last question's afterwards and they'll come up to you and they'll talk to you afterwards. Those are the differences between, you know, a relatively good speech, a relatively bad speech.

But a speech that is going to be remembered over time, that's what those who give speeches are hoping to accomplish will they include a line or a couple of lines that will live in time long after they're gone that people will point back to and say remember remember that?

That was important. That made an impact. Well, let's look at yesterday, because a lot of world leaders spoke yesterday. And, you know, deep in their hearts, I am sure, they all agree this is a critical issue for the survival of the planet. I mean, how much more critical could you be?

I remember in 2006, shortly after Stephen Harper became Prime Minister in Canada, he gave a speech in Berlin where he said the most important question facing the earth today, the world today, world leaders today, is climate change. Now, he didn't hear that much from Stephen Harper after that. Other things, he says, became more important, although it's a little hard to believe anything could be more important than that. But he did say it at the beginning of his term. And of course, many other leaders have said it before and since. So let's look at yesterday once again. Who said what in terms of a speech that could last forever? You can just bet when they were pre-reading their speeches,

in many cases written by others for them. But nevertheless, they're hoping, man, is there a line in here that's going to just knock it out of the park and I will be remembered forever for. The Queen gave a speech. Obviously the head of state in the host country for COP26. It was on tape. She has not been well.

She looked pretty good in this videotape though. She's 95. Here's one of the lines in that speech. It is the hope of many that the legacy of this summit, written in history books yet to be printed, will describe you as the leaders who did not pass up the opportunity and that you answered the call of those future generations.

Now, is that a line that'll live forever? It touches all the right bases. That was the Queen. Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of Britain, as I said earlier, has really been trying to be the person on climate, making promises, making declarations, challenging coal producers around the world, and yet he's yet to say with definity that he wouldn't allow a new coal mine

in the UK. Nevertheless, he's been out there and he's also, if you didn't already know, he's also a huge Churchill fan to the point where he wrote a book on Churchill called The Churchill Factor. Came out in 2014. It's kind of a breezy look at Churchill, very complimentary, a very easy read, and becomes one of the literally dozens and dozens, if not hundreds of books about Churchill.

But Boris Johnson, although I don't think he's ever said it directly, sees himself as another Churchill. Okay. Bojo, what was your big line yesterday? Well, here's one of his from his speech. With these unprecedented pledges, we will have a chance to end humanity's long history as nature's conqueror and instead become its custodian. It's not a bad line.

End humanity's long history as nature's conqueror and instead become its custodian. Here's Boris Johnson. Okay, the picture that's attracting a lot of attention around the world, not just the one of the Queen, but there's a picture out there of Joe Biden, and it looks like he's fallen asleep at the COP26 summit. He's flown in the night before from Rome.

You know, jet lag can get to you. Was he asleep, or was it just that moment of the shutter click when his eyes were closed? I don't know. Maybe he was dozing for a moment. Maybe it was a particularly boring speech that was up there at the podium while he was waiting for his turn. But let's talk instead about a line from Joe Biden's speech,

because Joe Biden is there. Just like the others saying, could this be my moment? We have a world crisis. The eyes of the planet are focused on this summit. I'm at the podium. I can say something that could change history. So here's one of his lines. We meet with the eyes of history upon us.

Will we do what is necessary? Or will we condemn future generations to suffer? Okay, strong line, but, you know, it's basically just a question. Does that inspire? Maybe a little bit. Justin Trudeau was up there too. He only spoke for a couple of minutes. And that can be really impactful if your speech is impactful.

You don't plot on. You get to the point. So here's a line from Justin Trudeau's speech about the crisis facing the world on climate. Justin Trudeau says, how many more signs do we need? This is our time to step up and step up together.

So there's some big, big lines from some important speeches at COP. So tell me, were they Churchillian in their impact? And let me remind you what impactful Churchillian lines could do. I've got a couple of Churchill lines here. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duty and so bear ourselves that if the British Commonwealth and Empire last for a thousand years, men will still say,

this was their finest hour. Now, he said that much better than I just said it. But those words are sterling and inspiring. And of course, this was 1940, when things looked extremely bleak for the United Kingdom. This was their finest hour. That's what men and women will say for a thousand years, said Churchill, if you bear ourselves and do our duty. Here's another one, roughly the same time. We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches.

We shall fight on the landing grounds. We shall fight in the fields and in the streets. We shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender. Okay. Where do you want me to go? I'm ready. Those words and the words before it,

those will make you stand up to duty. Stand up to do the right thing. Here's another one. Success is not final. Failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts. If you're going through hell, keep going.

So what was it that Churchill did? How did he deal with these speeches, these challenges? I found one explanation today when I was going through the, going through Google. Churchill used a motive language, metaphor, and powerful imagery, delivering his speeches with such authority that they strengthened the nation's resolve during the darkest of days. He understood how to use words to let the listener's imagination take over, transporting them to the scene of the battle.

So did anybody do that yesterday? This is a battle. If you believe that climate change is real, and most people do, by overwhelming numbers, then this is the battle of our lives. This is the battle of our lives. It takes real leadership and inspiration to join that battle. So is that what's happening here? Did those speeches do it?

I don't know. I still think we're looking for a real powerful speech. All right. Now, I know from past experience on this podcast about talking on Winston Churchill that not everyone's a fan out there. And in an era where we are looking with a critical eye at a lot of past leaders and significant figures in history, our history, world history. We are finding things we don't like. And we are second-guessing

ourselves in terms of the way we have looked at these people on the pedestals and statues of which we have put up. And Churchill has been part of that. Part of that questioning of history. Last year in the summer of 2020, after the George Floyd incident, and there was a lot of this going on in different parts of the world when we were re-looking at certain leaders. We saw it in Canada with, of course, John A. MacDonald.

And we saw it in London with Winston Churchill. People trying to deface the statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square, a little park across from Westminster. Now, as I said earlier, there have been dozens, if not hundreds, of books written about Churchill and by Churchill about Churchill. I mean, he was the definition of the great phrase that Dan Snow was talking about last week, that, you know, history is written by the victors.

Well, Churchill certainly did that. He was out with the, what, the sixth volume, a sixth volume set right after the Second World War, detailing the history of the Second World War from guess whose perspective? And that was a world bestseller. Probably still is. Well, as I said, they're still churning out books on Churchill and most are kind of glowing accounts of the guy not all there have been a variety of books which challenged the

legacy of of Winston Churchill. You know, books with titles like Churchill, A Study in Failure. That one did pretty well. As do the ones that are flattering. Well, there's a new one out now. And that's what I'm going to mention a little bit. I haven't read it yet,

but I read a great review over the weekend in the New York times by somebody who I have an enormous admiration for. His name is Peter Baker. And he is the New York Times chief political correspondent. He's written a number of books himself, including his most recent book, The Man Who Ran Washington, The Life and Times of James A. Baker III,

that he wrote with Susan Glasser. Peter, once again, the chief White House correspondent for the New York Times. So he does a review on Geoffrey Wheatcroft's new book, Churchill's Shadow, the life and afterlife of Winston Churchill. And I like this review for a number of reasons, of which you're about to see. Peter Baker says,

in his new book, Churchill's Shadow, Geoffrey Wheatcroft takes a literary spray can to the iconic World War II leader, attempting, metaphorically at least, to recast the many memorials and books devoted to Sir Winston over the years. Churchill, in this telling, was not just a racist, but a hypocrite, a dissembler, a narcissist, an opportunist, an imperialist, a drunk, a strategic bungler, a tax dodger, a neglectful father, a credit-hogging author,

a terrible judge of character, and most of all, a masterful myth maker. Whoa. But how do you really feel? That's quite something. That's quite a description of the iconic World War II leader that so many of us have been taught to idolize. Man of the century.

Man of the half century. We all knew he had warts. We all knew no one's perfect. But man, that's a list so at a time when we're all kind of re-examining history and when in some places monuments are coming down, this comes as a real startler. However, let's keep some things in context,

as Peter Baker points out in this review. He has this quote from the book. He led the British nobly and heroically during one of the great crises of history and has misled them ever since, sustaining the country with beguiling illusions of greatness, of standing unique and alone, while preventing the British from coming to terms with their true place in the world. That's what Wheatcroft, the author, says.

He writes, If I make much of Churchill's failures and follies, that's partly because others have made too little of them since his rise to heroic status. Now, I want to read one last bit. I think you'll find this interesting. From this review,

I mean, what is what is Peter Baker do? He covers the White House. He covers world leaders who come to the White House. He writes this near the end of his review where he's talking about how other leaders have patterned themselves after Churchill. Just as I was suggesting,

maybe some of them were at COP26 yesterday. Others clearly have. You've seen it over time. You saw it with Kennedy. You saw it with Reagan you saw it with Reagan they would point to Churchill right? as the example that was needed

and in some cases those examples as presidents from Kennedy to Bush discovered using Churchill as presidents from Kennedy to Bush discovered, using Churchill as an example of action, may not have been such a good thing. Wheatcroft argues,

by embracing legend rather than reality, subsequent leaders have talked themselves into military debacles out of misguided desire to be the next Churchill. On every occasion, when action has been informed by the fear of appeasement or the ghost of Munich, Wheatcroft writes, woeful failure has followed from Korea to Suez to Vietnam to Iraq and much more besides.

I can't let this pass by. Two quick other things. I love this review. This is Peter Baker in the New York Times about the new Churchill book called Churchill's Shadow by Geoffrey Wheatcroft. Baker writes, Wheatcroft. Baker writes, Wheatcroft is a skilled prosecutor with a rapier pen. Churchill is not his only target.

He has acerbic asides for all manner of people, including Bernard Montgomery, bombastic vanity. George Patton, barely sane. Lord Beaverbrook, here's your Canadian angle, a thoroughgoing scoundrel. Tony Blair, intellectually second-rate. Charles de Gaulle, arrogant and graceless. And Adlai Stevenson, a pious liberal.

Okay, here's the last line from this review. Well, it's not the last line in the review, butecroft come to his defense, come to Churchill's defense. Quoting, and even ignoble things, but he had profound respect for constitutional government and elected legislatures, not least Congress, where he had been so loudly cheered. Nothing he had ever done deserved Trump, Giuliani, and Cruz. There you go once again the name of the book is

Churchill's Shadow you can buy it at I'm sure at your favorite bookstore or wherever you buy your books it's probably right next to that hot new bestseller off the record. Make sure you get that one too. All right.

We have a COVID update. COVID update. COVID update. And it's good news. And we'll be back with that right after this. Our Black Product Sponsor is The Economist. If you don't already know, its expertise lies in making sense of the world's most important developments. It offers completely independent opinion and analysis, giving you a balanced global view of an issue instead of a biased or politically motivated opinion. And don't be fooled by the name. It covers pretty much everything from culture to science and technology, from politics to finance and business. It's Black Friday. Get 50% off the annual digital subscription to The

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Last week in Scotland after, I guess, about three weeks, and it's been wonderful. But be back in Canada as of next week. I should tell you, I've got a couple of shows that I'm going to do from here before I leave that will run next week, including Monday. I have a really special program that I want you to listen to on Monday, next Monday, that kind of launches us into Remembrance Week, if you will. I think you'll find it interesting and, you know, emotional in a way,

as all Remembrance Day stories are. And then on Remembrance Day, the bridge will have a special edition on libraries, which may sound funny to you, but the program is aired after the Remembrance Day services. So this is an opportunity to still reflect on the past, but in a number of different ways. And I've got these two wonderful profs from St. Andrews University here in Scotland

who've just written a great new book on the history of libraries. And certainly as they relate in many ways to the UK, but it's a kind of a worldwide story. And you'll see in the discussion we have. So that'll be the special on the afternoon of Remembrance Day on the Bridge.

Whether you listen on Sirius XM Canada, Channel 167, Canada Talks, or if you listen on your favorite podcast platform. We welcome you all, and we appreciate your time. Okay, here's your COVID story for today. And as you know, I've been keeping in touch on the COVID story for today. And as you know, that I, you know, I've been keeping in touch on the COVID story,

but I haven't been pushing it too hard. Right. But this one, I like this is from Bloomberg and it's, it's basically about cities opening up again. Bloomberg has been tracking public health rules and COVID-19 border restrictions since early August, and as of their latest update,

the world is the most open it's been. Bloomberg says it grades cities as more open, moderately open, and less open, based on local public health restrictions that have clamped down on public life. When they first started grading cities, only 33% had the more open rating. In less than three months, that share is up to 56%,

almost doubled. Now, just from those numbers, that's good news. That increased global openness is showing up in airline data. It sure is. Man, coming over here wasn't hard. Going back is tricky. The flights are filling up big time. If you're thinking of going somewhere over the end-of-year holidays,

you better get those reservations now because they are filling up. Bloomberg's COVID travel tracker looks at the volume of airline seats between the 70 destinations that it tracks. Week over week, things are headed in the right direction. France, Italy, Spain have all seen spikes in capacity. Some destinations, like Mexico, are already above their 2019 levels. That's before the pandemic. Destinations such as Brazil, Singapore, and the UK are clawing their way back to pre-pandemic levels.

I'm shocked that Brazil is, but Bloomberg's done the work on this. On a recent fall weekend in Brussels, Belgium, the city's sidewalk cafes were packed with visitors drinking beer and people watching. Reading from the Bloomberg story here. Things aren't entirely back to normal. The city requires proof of vaccination to enter many places and a spike in cases has Belgium looking at new health measures such as masking, work from home recommendations and expanding the use of vaccine proof. It all underscores the fragility of the gains made since the worst of the pandemic.

But the country is committed not to going back to a lockdown. I'm going to close out on this. This is from the Prime Minister, Alexander Ducroux, Prime Minister of Belgium. Last year, in a situation like this, we would be locking down certain activities. What we do today is keep everything open using a vaccine proof for entry, vaccine passports. In terms of local public health measures, Toronto has been added to Bloomberg's most open cities and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam as well. It's moved from least open to moderately open.

But Moscow dropped from most open to least open after implementing the harshest lockdown since last year in response to a surge in COVID-19 infections. So there you go. Things opening up, but very carefully in the sense of monitoring the situation closely, but not closing down again with the exception of Moscow. It's going to be a winter where we've all got to stay on the ball, be careful,

but the light is clearly there at the end of the tunnel, and this time we can see it. So let's get there. All right, tomorrow's Wednesday. Bruce Anderson is here with Smoke Mirrors and the Truth. Any number of things to talk about, especially the commitments being made here in Scotland by governments, including Canada's, about the future. And can they deliver? All right, then. I'm Peter Mansbridge.

This has been The Bridge. Thanks so much for listening. We'll talk to you again in 24 hours.