Don’t you think Blair looks tired?
07
January
Well, I got the first Google referral for “Don’t you think Blair looks tired?”, for which this is currently the only result. I suspect that will change. Why?
I want Blair out of office by the end of 2006
I strongly suspect that that’s an acheivable goal. Labour supporters are fed up with him, the country thinks he’s a liar, and, well, he does look tired.
Cameron will run rings around him regularly at PMQs, pretty sure of that. If the new LibDem leader actually masters the brief and goes effectively on the offensive Blair will be fighting on three fronts.
Speculation seems to be that they’ll go for a Brown coronation. Possible, they may alternately have a proper leadership election while Blair watches. The former is more likely if we can force him out, the latter will happen if he can stage manage it himself.
Y’see, I want Brown to take over as leader. He’s a known quantity, we know where we are with him. As John Bright points out in his advice to the LibDems:
Pay more attention to Gordon Brown. Though the Cameron honeymoon has complicated things a little, Gordon Brown still enjoys the respect of progressive voters. We ought to be clearer on the differences between Brown’s centralism and our liberalism. We shared the consensus in 1997 that Thatcher and Major had left public services in need of more investment. But investment without decentralising reform hasn’t got us all that far. The Tories didn’t have many moments of lucidity in the 2001 election campaign, but for a few days they were making a very pertinent argument: “You paid the taxes. So where are the extra teachers?” You don’t have to “lurch to the right” to realise that this is a sound liberal line of attack on Gordon Brown.
If it’s left until close to the election for a changeover, then
- Blair can stage manage it
- The new leader will seem fresh
- People may be inclined to give them “a second chance”
We need to defeat New Labour. Blears wants to nanny us, Clarke wants to watch us, Brown wants to count us and Straw will continue lying to us.
Get Blair out early, get the new leader in early, let them have a chance to show their colours. It’s to the advantage of Labour supporters (you never know, a new leader may change things), and it’s definately to the advantage of the opposition parties and the wider electorate.
Blogging is beginning to scratch the UK political commentary, sometimes in a good way, otehrtimes not. In 2006, I suspect blogging will become a lot more accepted and we may actually be able to claim a few genuine scalps. Of course, getting Blair out will need more than just bloggers pushing together for it. But we can at least make a start.
So, be honest, Don’t you think Blair looks tired?
I got this one from US bloggers, it cropped up on a quotes community, it’s doing the rounds on Livejournal as a Bush variant. It’s still worth it.
1. helen_of_romford | January 8th, 2006 at 8:53 pm
I agree with you that Blair needs to go.
Even at my most charitable I feel he’s only hanging on in the hope that Iraq suddenly becomes peaceful, enabling him to announce, “see I told you so” and go. So he could still be there, wrecking the Labour party’s credibility, right up till the final Conference before the election.
However, my fear is that he’s moved beyond wanting to protect his “legacy” and on to wanting to destroy Gordon’s. This again requires him to hang on, only this time vindictively and with malevolence.
I agree with Polly Toynbee that much has been achieved by stealth. But much else has been destroyed needlessly or messed about until it has become useless. This Govt been a failed opportunity in too many ways.
2. MatGB | January 8th, 2006 at 11:28 pm
This Govt been a failed opportunity in too many ways.
Agreed; I was so hopeful in ‘97, and when living in a Labour-Tory split in ‘01 I voted for them, I still had some hope they’d keep going and finish the job they promised. Instead, they became more and more controlling, messed up so many issues, and didn’t complete others.
Specifically, they’ve really messed up the constitutional settlement, from what promised to be a radical redesign to inspire people we’ve got a fudge and a resentful England that’s rejected the white elephants, etc.
Electoral reform is so essential, but it’s been abandoned. When they get something right, it’s still bureacratic, when they get something wrong, it scares me.
I don’t get Blair anymore; he used to speak in a way I identified with, now he speaks and I automatically dislike it, it takes effort to agree with him even if he’s saying what he should have said years ago.
Incidentally; do you actually have a blog somewhere? I’m in the mood to promote the idea of them to everyone at the moment.
3. helen_of_romford | January 9th, 2006 at 9:54 am
Again I completely agree with you.
However, I remember being derided by a Labour candidate for naming Freedom of speech and electoral reform as major concerns. “Typical middle-class twaddle” was nearly his reply.
On the political vertical axis between liberal and authoritarian I’m afraid this Govt’s instincts regard such issues as irrelevant.
I can claim I never liked Blair that much. Even in 97 I voted anti-Tory, as I always have, rather than pro-Labour.
I was always willing to suspend cynicism whilst the “ethical foreign policy” was in place, but its demise in 98 ended any affection I might have had. Especially when Jack Straw remains a walking rebuke to any who might place faith in the word of politicians.
No I don’t have a blog. I keep thinking about it but not too sure how to start and just a bit too lazy.