George Orwell and 1984 still relevant today, says son

Richard Blair spoke to the BBC about the relevance of his father's work many decades on

George Orwell might have a sense of "deja vu" about the state of politics if he was alive today, his son has told the BBC.

Richard Blair was speaking on the 120th anniversary of the writer's birth. He was adopted by Eric Blair - better known by his pen name of George Orwell.

Orwell's novel 1984 was the origin of the popular understanding of "Big Brother" and "Room 101".

Mr Blair told BBC Politics East: "He would have thought, what's changed?"

The artist Pure Evil has painted a mural at the entrance to Southwold's pier celebrating George Orwell

Mr Blair spoke as a new biography on Orwell by Norwich writer and novelist DJ Taylor was published.

With Russia calling the war in Ukraine a "special military operation" and with many supporters of former US president Donald Trump believing his falsehood that he won the last election, many people see 1984 as more relevant than ever, Mr Taylor said.

Asked about how his father would react if he came back today, Mr Blair said: "Has it changed from the world of 1984 and Animal Farm? It's been the same for a millennia. I suppose it will be the same in another 100 years' time.

"He would have a certain sense of deja vu. He would have thought, what's changed?"

DJ Taylor has written new biography on George Orwell

He added: "My father was a great patriot. A great defender of his country and he was also a critic of both sides of the political debate. He would criticise both left and right."

Prof Jean Seaton, official historian of the BBC, said Orwell was still incredibly important.

"We live in a world with surveillance, facial recognition. 1984 is about the capacity of authoritarian regimes like Russia, China, to make you believe what is not true," she said.

George Orwell worked for the BBC during World War II

Mr Blair spoke as a new biography on Orwell by Norwich writer and novelist DJ Taylor was published.

An award-winning writer and critic, Mr Taylor's new biography "Orwell: The New Life" is the first to reveal insights about Orwell from newly uncovered letters to Eleanor Collings and Brenda Salkend, who had become part of his life when he lived in Southwold, Suffolk.

"These two caches of new material, letters he'd written to Suffolk girlfriends in the 1930s, don't just tell us about the relationship with the two women, they tell us about all kinds of things," said Mr Taylor.

"They tell us about what he was reading, his politics and where he was, geographical information."

He added: "In terms of improving our understanding of Orwell's work, I suspect his letters to Eleanor reminiscing about their country walks at Southwold may have inspired similar passages describing Winston's affair with Julia in 1984."

While in Southwold, Orwell wrote the 1935 novel A Clergyman's Daughter, which is set in a fictionalised version of the town.

George Orwell's novel 1984 is regarded as a classic of modern literature

Mr Taylor said: "I think Southwold and its ambience and its values were an awful lot of the things Orwell felt he was rebelling against.

"On the other side, he had a very traditional nature. Somebody said of him, he was a conservative in everything but politics.

"I have a feeling there were certain aspects of Southwold he found very congenial."

The newly discovered letters were bought by Mr Blair and donated to the Orwell Archive at University College London.

Mr Blair said: "I thought I better make an offer to secure the letters for posterity.

"I was interested that my father maintained his correspondence with Brenda Salkend for a great number of years. He always seemed to hold out a candle for all his girlfriends, certainly these two, as far as I can see."

BBC Politics East will broadcast on Sunday, 2 July at 10:00 BST on BBC One andavailable after broadcast on BBC iPlayer.