Tony Blair's 'squeaker

The Charleston Post and Courier ^ | 05/07/05 | Editorial

[smoothsailing]

SATURDAY, MAY 07, 2005

Tony Blair's 'squeaker'

There is nothing qualified about Prime Minister Tony Blair's history-making third electoral victory in Britain, the first time ever for a Labor candidate. In response to widespread reports that his party's reduced majority in the House of Commons foretells his likely early retirement from politics, Mr. Blair would be justified in quoting the words attributed to Mark Twain, "The report of my death has been greatly exaggerated."

In electoral politics, a victory is a victory, and even with reduced numbers Mr. Blair's Labor Party has a clear majority. It is more than enough to justify the prime minister's statement, "We've got a mandate to govern this country again." Displaying none of the arrogance his opponents accuse him of having, Mr. Blair also said, "The British people wanted the return of a Labor government but with a reduced majority. And we have to respond to that sensibly and wisely and responsibly."

Most news analyses of the fall-off in Labor's vote cited the war in Iraq and questions about the government's candor in making the case for war. But the electoral returns suggest other, perhaps more significant, factors were also at work. The only party with a clear stance against the war, the Liberal Democrats, gained 10 seats in the House of Commons. But the Conservative Party, which supported the war in principle, gained 31 seats. The anti-immigration and strong law-and-order stance of the Tories may have persuaded many former Labor voters to switch sides.

In response to the main points of the Conservative campaign, Mr. Blair said Britons were "tolerant and decent."

But, he added, "they do believe there are real problems in our immigration and asylum system" and with disruptive behavior in classrooms and on city streets. He said his priorities would be to sort out the problems with immigration, find a way to "bring back a proper sense of respect in our schools, in our towns, in our villages," and pursue a "radical program" of legislation for health, education and law and order.

Mr. Blair again acknowledged Friday that "Iraq has been a deeply divisive issue in this country." He added, "But I also know and believe that after this election people want to move on, they want to focus on the future -- in Iraq and here."

Those don't sound like the words of someone who has just read his political obituary. It is far too soon to count out Tony Blair.  

[Ohioan]

Those don't sound like the words of someone who has just read his political obituary. It is far too soon to count out Tony Blair.

Sad, but true. The more rational Brits seem stuck with their own version of Bill Clinton, ad nauseum.

William Flax Return Of The Gods Web Site

[Brian Allen]

<< Those don't sound like the words of someone who has just read his political obituary. It is far too soon to count out Tony Blair.

Sad, but true. The more rational Brits seem stuck with their own version of Bill Clinton, ad nauseum. >>

Well said.

Bill Clinton with the effected clipped vowels of a justifiably-self-loathing once-great British "upper'class'" twit!