Today Tony Blair announced that he plans to step down as Prime Minister on the 27th of June. There wasn't a dry eye in the house. Apparently, he will be spending the remaining seven weeks touring the world, saying goodbye to all the peoples on this troubled globe.
I have mixed feelings about Blair and his New Labour government. I admire the genius of remaking the Labour party in the Conservatives' image. It takes something to capture the party of the looney left and the old union hacks, turn it around and make it into a modern party that can be trusted with running the economy. That in itself is quite an achievement. It is also a coup that has left the Tory party powerless to profile themselves in any meaningful way.
Obviously, the war over Iraq is bound to dominate Blair's legacy for some time to come. And I think it is clear that the run-up to the invasion was handled in a decidedly dodgy fashion. Can you trust the party of spin with something as important as briefing the House of Commons on the need to take up arms?
In my mind no British PM would have rejected the US plea to stand side-by-side with them in the war on terror. Britain was called upon by the Americans and I can think of no scenario where a British government would have slammed the door in their faces. Britain does not have the French luxury of sulky detachment.
An amazing amount of money has been emptied into the National Health Service, and despite the ubiquitous hysterical media scare stories, it has probably improved quite dramatically.
Next, and for the foreseeable future, we'll have a Scottish Prime Minister. We'll see what happens with Gordon.
I have mixed feelings about Blair and his New Labour government. I admire the genius of remaking the Labour party in the Conservatives' image. It takes something to capture the party of the looney left and the old union hacks, turn it around and make it into a modern party that can be trusted with running the economy. That in itself is quite an achievement. It is also a coup that has left the Tory party powerless to profile themselves in any meaningful way.
Obviously, the war over Iraq is bound to dominate Blair's legacy for some time to come. And I think it is clear that the run-up to the invasion was handled in a decidedly dodgy fashion. Can you trust the party of spin with something as important as briefing the House of Commons on the need to take up arms?
In my mind no British PM would have rejected the US plea to stand side-by-side with them in the war on terror. Britain was called upon by the Americans and I can think of no scenario where a British government would have slammed the door in their faces. Britain does not have the French luxury of sulky detachment.
An amazing amount of money has been emptied into the National Health Service, and despite the ubiquitous hysterical media scare stories, it has probably improved quite dramatically.
Next, and for the foreseeable future, we'll have a Scottish Prime Minister. We'll see what happens with Gordon.
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