Neil Kinnock thus stands as something of a case study in the caveats that must be applied to the power of speech. Kinnock was the best public speaker in British political life in the latter part of the twentieth century. He had a command of imagery unrivalled among his contemporaries and a better speaking voice than any of them. He also had something important to say. He could be long-winded, to be sure. John Major cruelly said of Kinnock that he talked so much because, as he had no idea what he was trying to say, he could never tell when he’d finished. But there were days, magnificent days,
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