Prime ministers beware popular culture

I have a distinct memory of seeing Jim Callaghan say ‘Jim won’t fix it’ in a televised speech to the nation. I think it must have been during a prime ministerial address (for which they used to be able to claim the right – can they still?) very soon after he succeeded Harold Wilson in April 1976, when he was, in his avuncular way, telling us that prime ministers cannot be omnipotent. I don’t think he would have risked such a jokey way of conveying that message later on, during the winters of discontent, & especially not after his bruising over the allegation that he had been sunning himself in the Caribbean while Britain was in crisis.

I have not been able to bring up any reference to the quote using Google, however I varied the search; it just kept insisting on
“Showing results for jim callaghan "jim will fix it"
No results found for jim callaghan "jim wont fix it"”

The Jimmy Savile show ‘Jim’ll Fix It’ was first shown in May 1975, so if my memory may be relied upon this was an early attempt by a prime minister to show that he was in touch with popular culture, something which politicians today are overly anxious to demonstrate.

When I did persuade Google point me to pages which contain the phrase ‘Jim won’t fix it’ (without mentioning Callaghan) the results show only too clearly how dangerous it can be to find oneself in any way associated with a popular celebrity who has fallen so spectacularly in public estimation.

The Times today published a large photograph of Margaret Thatcher posing with Savile at an even to raise money for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.