So, you're a relatively obscure left-leaning Observer commentator whose controversial cheerleading for Gulf War II - the Toppling of Saddam vaults you to the big time. Soon the letter pages are busy with admonishments and support, your name becomes synonymous with a self-styled brand of "muscular" liberalism and you go on to be made an offer you can't refuse by a certain former Australian who in slimmer, more youthful times you would presumably have placed at the right side of satan, alongside a certain former Prime Minister.
Back to the future and the sitting PM has just faced his first parliamentary defeat. Both his Commons majority and his authority were devastated by the war you played such a key part promoting. Your reaction? Why, it's time for him to go.
Saturday, November 12, 2005
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3 comments:
I think David Aaronovitch makes a good point. He isn't stabbing Blair in the back. He rightly praises him as the most talented centre-left politician in the Western world, but simply that his luck, his time and his mandate have run out. The problem is as Aaronovitch correctly puts it that people such as Frank (I'm not bitter much) Dobson and other professional oppositional/rebel labour MPs have an inability to look beyond Blair as was illustrated over the 90 day vote. It doesn’t matter what he does now.
"If Blair says education, they see Blair. If Blair says health, they see Blair. If Blair says terrorism, they see Blair. Somehow Labour has got to get back to the position where the Labour leader says “We need to do this” and his or her MPs see the thing that needs to be done."
That's it precisely. He needs to gracefully exit the scene and take a big job running the UN and sort that out.
Oh dear, it is precisely because of politicians like Blair that the UN is in the mess it's in!
Yes, oh dear. If this is the most talented centre-left politician in the Western world, then God help the Western world.
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