That pressing pressie question can’t wait

Politics is never the first profession to leap to mind when honest and open communication is the subject. But Prime Minister Tony Blair was in a forthright mood at the most recent design industry soirée at 10 Downing Street, held to celebrate the launch of student-designed gifts for visiting dignitaries and diplomats.

While world trade and high finance may be the most pressing items on the agenda when politicians meet, said dignitaries and diplomats usually have more pressing matters in mind. Their first question, confides designers’ friend Blair, is invariably ‘What’s my pressie?’