The End of Blair and the Beginning of Brown

[LJT]

Tony Blair steps down today as prime minister of the UK after his final prime minister's question time in the Commons, he will go off to meet the Queen handing in his resignation. Gordon Brown will then meet the queen get handed the seals of office and that will be him the first knight of the realm and the new prime minister.

I don't think there will be a great deal of difference, but he will probably beat David Cameron at the next general election with the way things are going.

At least the impressionists such as Bremner have already had a lot of practice at doing Gordon, at least he will keep a job.

This makes it the fourth prime minister I've lived under; Thatcher, Major, Blair and now Brown...two Conservatives and two Labour.

[bammo2]

Personally I can't stand any of them. Brown's fiscal policies have done so much to decimate middle England and its hard working people. It horrifies me to think that he's got the premiership. It's even worse to think that none of the other people in politics are any better.

[financeguy]

Originally posted by bammo2
Brown's fiscal policies have done so much to decimate middle England and its hard working people. It horrifies me to think that he's got the premiership.

You get it.

[Teta040]

So Brown is an honorary "loyal Bushie"? Can't be any worse than the unspeakable things Bush has done to the middle class here. Message to all Brits and non-Yanks on this board: however bad you think Bush's foreign policy is, that's nothing compared to the unprecidented way he has destroyed the environment, the middle and working classes, oppressed the poor, and shredded the Constitution piecemeal., in waqys unprecidented in US history..starting with the way he was "elected" in 2000... Oops. Not Bush...Cheney runs the govt. See this weeks' Washington Post series on the shadow Cheney Presidency. www.washingtonpost.com decades after him, the Roberts-Alito Supreme Court will complete the systematic destruction of all our recent womens; rights, civil rights, and environmental laws. They're already off to a great start....a triple whammy dismantling some key Civil Rights Act of 1964 laws, just Monday, in three landmark cases in one day.

Wow, this pretty much makes it a clean sweep. The Western world is currently controlled by the right and Far right. Cheney (oops, I mean Bush) in the U.S; Harper in Canada; Brown in Blighty; Sarkozy in France; Merkel in Germany (though she might be a moderate); Olmert in Israel (wait until they attack Syria, Hamas and Iran next month--I have read this posted from someone else on another site who has a friend in the IDF who is currently in the Negev desert, where he says Israel is curretly conducting "unusually large" military excercises in preperations for a war in July to erase the "shame" of last yr's war, using the Hamas takeover of Gaza as the excuse. This sounds entirely believable to me, as Rumsfeld and Cheney teamed up with Dan Halutz to take Israel to war last yr--a dress rehersal for attacking Iran; clearly Cheney is realizing the US public will not tolerate a US attack on Iran so why not get Israel to do it for us??God forbid if this is the case--but Seymour Hersh has never been wrong)...Putin in Russia, and the idiotc John Major in Oz. (His entire country is wilting in drought and they say Australai willnot be able to grow food crops in another 15 yrs,and he is still the only Western power along with the US to oppose Kyoto.)


It's a rough time for progressives of all stripes, though I think we must prepare ourselves for more of the same and indeed, even worse. As the global Oil Peak approaches (if we have not seen it already), and the world's natural rescources begin to run low, and the effects of global warming and climate change begin to pile up, governments of all stripes will by necessity have to become more autocratic, if not openly despotic, as their restive populations demand a retun to the status quo and the glory days where they could carry out their indulgent lifestyles. Refugee problems will only grow. I say it a lot to people: "We are already living in a 'Children Of Men' world." Many of these leaders, such as Sarkozy, openly played the Muslim card and they will appeal to racist and xenophobic elements of their populations to keep them distracted and or/ entertained as their material problems grow, which without armed conflict manynot be solveable. This is the horrid way Bush/Cheney can continue to be so confident and sure history will vindicate them: they in their cynical way believe that in the end the populace will give up their freedom in exchange for the security offered by a despot.....

[LJT]

Brown ain't far right

He's more left than Blair...I don't think Middle England is doing all that badly whatever Middle England is, certainly not decimated (it has always struck me as an odd term for an indefinite group of people)

[A_Wanderer]

the idiotc John Major in Oz.

There are at least two things wrong with this statement but the Flannery-esque tangent linking the current drought to Kyoto is nice.

[TheQuiet1]

Originally posted by Teta040
the idiotc John Major in Oz.

I've always been amazed at how well and different John Major looks since he stopped been PM of the UK. Now I why! Clearly all that Aussie sunshine has been doing him some good!

As far as Gordon goes, I think he has a lot to prove but I'll keep an open mind at this stage. His new Cabinet is certainly...different. Plus I'm very pleased to see the Demon Headmaster has made a triumphant return!

[LJT]

Crap I never realised it before....Jack Straw does look like the demon head master

[AnnRKeyintheUSA]

Originally posted by TheQuiet1


I've always been amazed at how well and different John Major looks since he stopped been PM of the UK.

All joking aside, his happens with all presidents. Carter was hated as president, now he's a kindly old man everybody loves. Same with all presidents, they're hated in office by many, but out of office, and harmless, they become almost loveable.

But me, of course, I hate all politicians, so I don't count.