The papers are getting very excited about Tony Blair becoming President of the EU. Try as I might I just can't get exercised about it.
My overwhelming thought is that the EU and Tony Blair deserve each other. Or am I being unfair on Tony Blair?
It seems to me that flailing around trying to carve out a role for yourself on the world stage is something both Blair and the EU have been trying to do for several years. And neither have met with huge success.
Still, I wish Mr Blair the very best of luck. If anything guarantees that this country remains overwhelmingly eurosceptic, it would be the prospect of him becoming President of the EU.
92 comments:
I half wonder if it might benfit the EU's standing in the UK if Blair became President?
The public are so dissilusioned with Labour under Brown, the Blair years now look wonderful (with rose tinted glasses).
Blair becoming EU President may well work on the psyche of the masses and increase support for the Union. They will be looking to return to the 'happier' years with Blair in charge, and Brown playing second fiddle.
There is maybe a more eloquent way of explaining my thoughts/concerns, but hopefully you get where I'm trying to go with this theme?
The whole situation worries me deeply though.
"It seems to me that flailing around trying to carve out a role for yourself on the world stage is something both Blair and the EU have been trying to do for several years. And neither have met with huge success."
Says the man that couldn't get selected as a parliamentary candidate. How sour are those grapes?
Is this why he did not complete his full third term as he said he would and reneged on his referendum promise?
Speaking of traffic management...
David Miliband on Andrew Marr:
"We need someone who, when he or she lands in Beijing or Washington or Moscow, the traffic does need to stop "
Please, oh loyal, all-inclusive one, define 'we'.
I actually want a British President of EU and TB is the best candidate i can't see any other person who would have the same authority Blair has.
Better Blair than some Johnny foreigner though.
Not just in this country, but Blair as EU president (unelected) will be unpopular across the EU as well, largely due to the small matter of the Iraq war.
Anything that makes the EU even more unpoular with its citizens is a good thing and can surely only hasten its demise
Blair is a shameless mountebank and must never be allowed a position of Authority again.
A wise and farsighted post. Never mind the dyspeptic twaddle from Bucket of Tongues. One might also observe that as Mr Blair is a Hand of Death with the spooky knack of wrecking everything he touches, he MUST be the ideal chap for the EU.
We need a self-important, grandiose 'President' of the EU like a hole in the head. (Imagine the expnses that post will attract!!) Especially when you see the cast list of has-beens that is the candidates list. It's another step along the road to the EU trying to fashion itself as a nation rather than as a raggle taggle job lot of disparate countries who think they still matter in the world. How can the EU be taken seriously when it includes the latest batch of no-hopers from eastern Europe? If the EU wants to be taken seriously, it should slim down to half its current membership, concentrate on trade rather than cack-handed, stifling supranational government and sack the useless 'MEPs' whose only function is to sit in Strasbourg dreaming up their expense claims. Oh and sell off the Mercedes that Blair plans to use to 'stop the traffic' (Millipede phrase - ha!) in his motorcade.
Or, maybe, we should exit stage left and leave the rump to get on with it. We might thrive outside as do other countriers instead of being dragged down to its, lowest common denominator, level.
"Says the man that couldn't get selected as a parliamentary candidate. How sour are those grapes?"
Really Is that the best people can come up with.
Pathetic.
I Look forward to that Motorcard. I'll be in the Book Depository. I'm sure there'll be no shortage of applicants for the grassy knoll
at least in that postion he will have no power,so cant bankrupt europe,like he did to britain.
is it me,so we will have an unelected prime minister,europe will have an unelected president,and we have forced another election on afganistan?
It's clear now that Blair's price for not having a referendum was the Presidency. If he gets it, it will add to the pressure to leave. Who wants that lying, duplicitous, self serving, smarmy git lording it over us again. And he was in charge when Broon was trashing the economy so I can't see any call for rose tinted glasses.
I am no fan of Tony Blair - although I offer grudging admiration for his political skills - however, if Europe is to be a success, then it needs a substantial figurehead.
Regardless of whether you think the EU is going in the right direction, or the wrong one, the fact is we are part of the EU and we should work to ensure its success, not try to sabotage it.
The world is moving towards regional trading blocks, with NAFTA, ASEAN, Mercosur and the EU - along with mooted plans for similar organisations in Africa and the CIS.
Either the UK can sit on its own while the rest of the world merges into clubs, or we can try to ensure that "our" club is the best out there.
Like it or not, that needs Tony Blair at the head of the EU.
Anything less would be a pyrrhic victory for the UK.
This is great news for Cameron and Osborne that the architect of modern British politics will be in there helping to bat for Britain.
He is loved and respected throughout the world, a global hero in three of the continents and, typically of us curmudgeons, we're not proud of him when we should be.
Bon. "The Blair years now look wonderful"
Tell that to the thousands of Iraqi war dead and the hundreds of British soldiers killed or maimed in his illegal war!
Tell that to the English people he went out of his way to spit upon by his unrestricted immigration policy (not debated- just silently crept in!)
Tell that to the young people who did not get the 'education, education, education' he promised.
Tell that to the once admired public services he has ruined with his political correctness and targets!
Tony Blair should and must face a Court charged with Treason and War Crimes and then he will find out how much the British really love him!
Which handshake in which unminuted meeting agreed this outcome?
Democracy in action.
Also looking at his perma-tan and new found veneer of the super-rich, I can't help thinking that the rewards of representing the labour movement have changed somewhat.
So nice that Mandy sees fit to wear a timepiece that costs more than the average British workers annual wage.
Still, they have Britain's best interests at heart.... We are in good hands.
Kosovo, Sierra Leone and stopping Bush Jr from nuking Kabul and Iraq will be Blair's lifesaving legacy rather than being in a war he could do nothing about and that any British Government would have had to support.
History will see him as one of the great political figures in world history and hopefully he hasn't finished yet.
If Tony Blair was mooted as Blofeld's successor @ SPECTRE would BlairSupporter http://url.ie/2pgf raise a petition in support?
http://twitter.com/Quietzapple
Of course there is another scenario....
The presidency of Europe conferred on a man who saved the world as we know it, famed for his gritty determination and his elastic use of truth.
Step forward one Gordon Brown.
In a trice Labour save themselves from electoral wipeout; Gordon is swept away in triumph and doesn't have to face an election (perish the thought), and once and for all he can stick two fingers up at Blair by getting the prize first.
Lawks, what malarkey!
Which handshake in which unminuted meeting agreed this outcome?
Democracy in action.
Also looking at his perma-tan and new found veneer of the super-rich, I can't help thinking that the rewards of representing the labour movement have changed somewhat.
So nice that Mandy sees fit to wear a timepiece that costs more than the average British workers annual wage.
Still, they have Britain's best interests at heart.... We are in good hands.
If we wind up with the grinning mountebank as El Presidente, then the only "plus" is that he is loyal to his wallet.
If the left thinks that Blair is a socialist then they have not looked at him hard enough or understood the lessons of his 10 years in power.
Most EU leaders or rising oppositions, now recognise that Cameron is almost certain to be th enext UK PM and to install Blair as EU President will simply set up a fight and give cover for a far harder-line EUscepticism from Cameron.
That is not in the interest of "the project" so they will not install Blair as President, however much they would like to.
As it appears the fight against Lisbon is lost, Conservatives and EUsceptics in the UK ought to be campaigning hard for Blair to get the job - or at least expressing ambivalence - so that this happy circumstance can come to pass and the battle can continue against the domination of our lives by the EU.
Blair President equals Cameron landslide.
The whole storm over the possible candidacy of Blair for the position of EU President shows signs of being a Mandelson-style deflection tactic.
Just like the massive, coordinated faux horror over the BNP's appearance on a barely-watched TV entertainment show, the media storm over the possibility of a future President Blair is almost certainly due to government-directed news management to divert attention away from less palatable but more important issues. (e.g the failure of the British economy to respond to the massive fiscal stimulus, and the need to re-run the elections in Afghanistan etc.).
I thought of 'President' Blair and his motorcade and The Day of the Jackel popped into my mind.
What a strange thought process!
If Blair gets the EU presidency it will be his thirty pieces of silver for selling out the country that elected him. That is the only reason that the Germans and the French could have for wanting to reward the incompetent warmonger in this way. If Britain (or England) survive, history will rightly vilify him. Sadly though, you have to survive to write your history and that is looking increasingly unlikely.
Blair President and Milliband Foreign minister could it be any worse ? It was hilarious reading Jackie Ashley pretending to be less than orgasmic at the prospect of the UK being ruled by New Labour in perpetuity whatever anyone votes for .
Those slimey ineffectual traitors Milliband , and Blair whose legacy is the ruinous consequence of their socialist misrule never never never .
I think Iain you have not fully understood the implications of this “New quasi country” as la Ashley out it . It is has no place for me and no place for you , we will live in a left wing Empire as a despised provincial anachronism without any access to power and be slowly eradicated with our own money.
It is the final solution for the left
Iain Dale has hit in right on the head with his remark:
"If anything guarantees that this country remains overwhelmingly eurosceptic, it would be the prospect of him becoming President of the EU."
This clearly explains WHY the Tories are so terrified of a "President" Blair. They couldn't beat him as PM, what hope when/if he is President? For goodness sake - Britain might find out it's not as Eurosceptic as it has been led to believe!
And you never know the Tories might actually have to come out and take a position on something!
Their faultline? Europe?
Ohhhh! Terrifying thought.
http://keeptonyblairforpm.wordpress.com/2009/10/26/eu-president-blair-can-stop-the-traffic-decision-possible-this-week/
In the ever diminishing, downward spiralling Conservative world, victory is but a few weeks' away.
But in the real world of responsibility, Labour appear to be winning everything in its path.
Not exactly 1979, is it?
Topsy turvy Tories, revel in their own extremist answers to natural modern dilemmas that require reasonable answers.
This is why you fail.
You Tories are collectively re-creating 'The Rocky Horror Show', making a monster for your own self indulgence and foer your own perverse pleasures. You cross dress your politics with that of European extremists and you cry out that 'IT LIVES!'.
Funny, really.
A fascinating comment by Miliband - was it said with No 10's blessing?
Whatever role some of the heads of member government fancy they can limit the President to, it is likely over time that the EU Presidential powers will expand - c.f. the USA.
This is simply because if Blair has a meeting with Obama, say, and comes to a deal then any attempt by the 27 'Cabinet' to unpick it will be counted by Blair. He would simply say that "to unpick it would lose the EU all crediblity, hence it has to be taken as a done deal". Result? - an incremental increase in Presidential Power.
Finally, Miliband comments about the motorcade says it all for why he is in politics. Indeed the fact that it is costing us in the UK that lost rebate of 4000,000,000 Euros a year doesn't register with him in the slightest - such vanity and knavery!
Oh dear.
Get with the programme Iain. Have you forgotten already everything you learnt on your Common Purpose course?
Aside from Blair; the realisation of having Dame Imelda Slotgob as first lady should scupper his chances.
"Tell that to the thousands of Iraqi war dead and the hundreds of British soldiers killed or maimed in his illegal war"
It wasn't his war. He had no choice. In fact his policies made a bad situation much better and his heroism in Kosovo and Sierra Leone make him a respected international superstar up there with the likes of Mandela.
"Tell that to the English people he went out of his way to spit upon by his unrestricted immigration policy (not debated- just silently crept in!)"
This is an obsession for a few but we needed those people for economic development and to pay for your benefits. Immigration has been happening for 2000 years. I welcome it. Industry tends to. More please.
"Tell that to the young people who did not get the 'education, education, education' he promised."
Actually, participation and results are at record highs and vocational routes are stronger than they've ever been.
"Tell that to the once admired public services he has ruined with his political correctness and targets!"
Are you crazy? Schools, Universites, Colleges, hospices and hospitals are immeasurably better than they were in 1997.
"Tony Blair should and must face a Court charged with Treason and War Crimes and then he will find out how much the British really love him!"
This is the most absurd thing I've ever read. By the same token you should face trial for crimes against intelligence and then see how little support you'd have amongst the British people.
Whatever your politics, this man won three terms and led our country magnificently through key historic events such as the Death of the Princess of Wales, 9/11 and 7/7.
It would be an honour for our country if Blair were to lead the EU.
The fact that D Milliband thinks Blair qualifies for a motorcade totally disqualifies him for any high office.
What a tosser.
No unelected 'leader' deserves a motorcade.
By what authority does Blair speak for anyone??
I know this is not 'the betting site' but if D Milliband does not dive out to take the EU foreign office job then that does make it more complicated for E. Milliband to be the 'shoo-in' that I predict for NLL (next labour leader).
(but what I read on coffee house says the tide is turning against Blair)
Ye gods, Our Cherry as First Lady of Europe!
Rule No 1: all existing monarchs to bow and curtsey to her.
StrapWorld, I was writing early in the morning, so maybe I didn't get my point across clearly.
In no way do I agree with pretty much anything Blair did. Between himself and Brown, they pretty much wrecked the UK, to the extent that I left a while ago. I'm now down by Gibraltar, and with that being an important base for the Mil I am FULLY aware of the hits the Forces are taking.
The point I was trying to make however, is that many people have short memories. The UK is now is a true mess, politics is in tatters with the expenses scandal, the financial meltdown is hurting people badly and the bankers are back on bonus culture. All these things add up, and many people (not yourself though obviously!) will be looking back on the Blair years as a good time.
That is the point I was trying to make. If people can look from the current mess back to when they could spend happily and ignorantly, they might see the "Return of Blair" as a good thing. This will reduce the UK resistance to Europe. I'm not getting into the whole debate of that being a good or bad thing, but I'm pondering whether that will make the decision on not having a referendum easier on the Politicians. The general masses will think "Oh, Tony's in charge, thats Ok then", and forgive the missed ref.
I hope that clarifies what I was trying to say.
John Moss and other defeatists have missed the point .Having a major UK figure involves the UK in the EU directly giving it a sort of faux legitimacy from a standing start.
After the horror of Brown ,Blair is not regared with any special loathing but Brown has only carried the can for his administration.
The only possible answer is a refusal to engage on the basis there is no legitimacy to it.
Blair is the figurehead of a new left wing Reich and collaborating on any grounds is unacceptable.
Well when Blair becomes EU-President it will make it easier for him to be tried for war crimes/ Instigating a war on a false premis.
It looks to me like a Deal has been done on this and despite common opinion I believe the czech and Poland Presidents have just been using their positions of sceptism to get a better deal for their countries. They were never going to stop the treaty - who can blame them as the next election is not won or lost until the Polls have closed and the Ballots counted, despite what many people think that Labour being booted out is inevitable. Labour count a hung parliament as a win because the LD will help them.
When Blair becomes President of Europe the UK should have an In or Out of the EU referundum. Hopefully it will be a withdrawl win and we can then scrape all the human rights stuff and bring back the death penality. Then most of the current Labour Ministers includeing the One eyed Idiot can be lynched for treason. Blair will get a special execution!
69,456,897 Americans voted for Obama in 2008. That's 69,456,870 votes more than it will take to 'elect' Blair as EU President - for we, the people of Europe, won't get a say.
If Blair himself wants to take part in this travesty, this charade, this playing with the pretend titles of true democracy then let him; he has no more legitimacy than a child wearing a sheriff's badge cut from a cornflake packet.
What a farce.
'Europe' doesn't exist, but it is thinking of appointing a president.
Giscard will be fed up, though. He wrote the whole Lisbon treaty with the intention of becoming Europe's first president.
He'd be quite good, actually, malgre son age.
if it comes to pass, I would like to see Tony Blair's motorcade drive through Iraq and Afghanistan...
As he claims it's all mine...
Boom, boom!
Newmania hits it on the head. Now that Nulab are going to lose the UK election, up they pop in Europe. How convenient. Blair as Prez, Milliband as the Foreign Minister and Prez in waiting.
Either the EU Presidency is what they say it is - a ceremonial role where all we need is an undistinguished Europolitico with a liking for gold braid (plenty to choose from there) - or it is seen as a Supreme Leader role where Blair will join the high table with the US and China. If this is the case, then GB (Britain, not Brown) will be at a major disadvantage. I can see no evidence that Blair would ever stand up for British interests as EuroPrez - more likely that he will take revenge on the country that turned its back on him.
Do not fall for this one Iain
Tony Bliar is a slimey, warmongering creep of the first order and is surpassed in his slug-like nastiness only be his slot-gobbed hag of a wife. Just imagine..."first lady of europe"
I really want to throw up!!!
Actually Cherie Blair should have beaten Tony to become a Labour candidate first in the early '80s and then how different . .
. . and how similar I suspect.
I'd support her as first Pres of the EU, but the saloon bars & emergency cardiac facilities in the SE of England would need a strong alert first I think . . .
I think this is a week or so out of date.
The French media have been full of the fact that Sarkozy has cooled off, and that there is only really Berlusconi pushing for Blair.
Not only is this due to some who dislike his Atlanticism and refusal to join the Euro, Shengen etc. Everyone realises, as William Hague pointed out last week, that whether the Conservatives or Labour win the general election a Blair presidency would only make dealings with the UK even more intractable.
Tony Blair is the best man for the job. It would show who is really running the country which is why the Mod Cons don't want this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-SC8dIL0cM
Anonymous @10.24...sorry to see that the medication isnt working..hope you get better
The ultimate argument for getting off this gravy train.Will he be needing a palace to go with his 7 or is it 8 houses?
Can't you just hear his father in law? Priceless!
To return to why major European leaders have cooled off Blair.
Miliband says Blair wants the job provided it has power and not merely a figurehead role.
But Sarkozy and Merkel want the Franco-German axis to continue to rule the EU - they are not going to create a big beast who might dilute their control.
As to Marr's point about Tory objections, Miliband completely avoided the question.
But, of course, were Miliband to oust Brown as PM, the domestic element would change dramatically. Hope Gordon was watching.
If anything pointed up the absurdity of the Lisbon Treaty it would be Blair's appointment as President.
Here we have a man who has reduced his own country's economy to a shambles, lost the support of even his own Party and been ejected from office. He lied to the electorate and led them into a ruinous war on the basis of false information.
Now he pops up as potentially the President a new European Super State. In a role where he can continue to interfere in our affairs without any of us having the opportunity to say or vote no. Where he can impose the policies that have almost destroyed us socially and economically - and make millions on the side while he does so.
It's difficult to see anything more profoundly undemocratic. So if they choose him, great. They are welcome to him.
But do we then want to be a part of the that Empire? I have always been very pro EU. But this above all and the dramatic loss of sovereignty after Lisbon makes me think no.
Can't we join ASEAN or a body of nations that might be on the way up. The Common Market was a good idea in the 1970s but surely we could have come up with something a bt more fexiblie and agile by now.
Anonymous @ 10:24 spouted the following drivel:
"It wasn't his war. He [Blair] had no choice."
Rubbish. He could have refused to go war. He could have energised the EU into pressuring the USA. He could have sided with China and Russia in the UN. He did none of these things. The Yanks never like going to war on their own, they always like to have allies. Without Blair's cooperation the Yanks might not have gone in to Iraq.
"In fact his policies made a bad situation much better and his heroism in Kosovo and Sierra Leone make him a respected international superstar up there with the likes of Mandela."
Blair's heroism??? What are you on? The boots on the ground were the heros, not Blair.
"This [immigration] is an obsession for a few but we needed those people for economic development and to pay for your benefits. Immigration has been happening for 2000 years. I welcome it. Industry tends to. More please."
Yes, well now it has been revealed that it had nothing to do with economics and everything to do with social engineering and getting more people into the country to vote Labour.
"Actually, participation and results are at record highs and vocational routes are stronger than they've ever been."
Yeah - so is youth unemployemnt. I wonder if there is a connection? Could it be that they stay at school because your party's inept economics has ensured that they have no bl**dy jobs to go to?
And don't get me started on what Labour has done to grade inflation!!
"Are you crazy? Schools, Universites, Colleges, hospices and hospitals are immeasurably better than they were in 1997."
More tractor stats. Most schools have seen no difference. The school rebuilding programme is so far behind schedule that it won't make a dent in the bulk of the school estate.
Universities used to be free, now only the wealthy can attend and hospitals are dirtier than ever with tens of thousands dying in them each year because of hospital acquired infection
No jobs, expensive universities, dirty hospitals, less effective policing, diluted exam results, bankrupt economy, ineffective policies - those are Blair's TRUE achivements
In my opinion, Blair is not fit to run a whelk stall and the sooner that the incompetent shower of filth known as the Labour party are voted into oblivion the happier I'll be.
May I, respectfully, suggest that when Empress Cherie visits these shores we greet her with that hearty song:-
'Oh what a mouth wot a North and South blimey wot a mouth she has"
It's fitting really that the undemocratically constituted United States of Europe should seek a Megalomaniac, blood thirsty Tyrant as their leader...
The foreign secretary tells the BBC that a Blair Presidency is good for the UK and Europe why?
Blair lied to the British people offering them a referendum on the Lisbon/constitution/treaty oops then gives back the rebate,so on that basis I guess he does look a good option for the top job.The down side for Blair he takes us into a war with Iraq alongside his good friend George Bush on the premise of WMD oops they they cant find any! Blair gets the middle east peace envoy job why? It seems the EU have no idea how fed up the British people are with self serving politicians,of which Blair tops the pole.Miliband also rather concerned for his future,sees a new paymaster in Brussels as a clear way forward for him,how lovely I wish him well.
Just seen that Mohammed Al Fayed has volunteered his services as president of an independent Scotland. Well if Blair can get the EU ...................
Should not Blair's future be to face a war crimes tribunal rather than troughing in Europe?
So a war criminal with the blood of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians on his hands is to become President of the EU?
Makes as much sense as one of the other prime architects of the Iraq war becoming Justice Minister.
Who says these bastard politicians don't have a sense of humour?
I can get very exercised at the thought of the smarmy liar becoming president of the EU. He is a disgrace to the UK and to the Labour party who elected him and since leaving office has done nothing but feather his own very comfortable nests.
Unfortunately we will probably have both Blair and the EU strutting their stuff on the world stage after the Lisbon Treaty is signed, sealed and delivered. Only the Conservative Party can stop this nonsense.
Why won't they?
Honestly Iain, how can you be so complacent? This man buggered up the UK once and will do so again simply to aggrandise himself and his wife, their bank balance and property portfolio
Anonymous @10.24...
Hi Cherie - The palace will soon be ready.
While reviewing the papers on Andrew Marr's show, Mary Ann Seighart made the comment that Blair was walking into a position that he insisted be created and gave concessions to ensure it was.
Is this true? What were the concessions?
If it is so, it's probably the worse case of someone using their office to line their own pockets that I've been made aware of for a long time.
(apologies if anyone has covered this in the comments - haven't read them all yet).
My guess:
Milliband gets an awesome EU job for agreeing not to shaft Brown before Lisbon.
Why else would he lose so much support over the last few weeks with comments that only help the EU project?
God damn Communist.
I would have thought that given the level of anti-EU feeling in the UK already that the EU would want a politician who is not actively hated by a significant proportion of UK citizens and whose appointment is bound to ensure further years of controversy and dissent.
If the EU think that the UK will welcome Blair's appointment or even soften their opposition to the Lisbon Treaty then they have, yet again, sadly mis-understood public opinion in the UK
Iain
Off topic , were you treated to lunch by Mr Cable ? If yes , is this why you are feeling under par?
(Golf / diet)!
Blair president of the EU is a scary thought. Made worse by the blatent way Blair has tried to push himself forward for this position for years now.
How he must long to be called PRESIDENT Blair. Milliband seems to think that all this position needs is someone who will stop the traffic. In that case how about Jordan aka Katie price. Her qualifications are she will definitely stop the traffic, plus she cant be any less successful than Blair.
Not so long ago he headed to Africa to sort out their problems. Then it was on to the MiddleEast to sort out the Palistinians and Israelis. Whatever happened to all that?
And finally of course great boobs. Jordans got a good pair too!!
I was promised a referendum by Blair on Lisbon and now know why I didn't get it. I won't acknowledge anybody as my "president" thankyou very much, much less Blair. If the Tory party want my vote back at the next election, they had better come up with a very convincing policy about giving me a say on the EU or they can go and whistle. British soldiers are dying in the sand for democracy abroad while I am being denied it at home.
This will drive even more previous Tory voters into the arms of UKIP, so it is starting to look very much like a referendum on the EU or a hung parliament. Which do you want Mr Cameron?
Cherie always gets this sort of response in "conservative" "circles" . .
Almost like a dose of homophobia I always think . . .
Iain said "Still, I wish Mr Blair the very best of luck."
I don't. I wish him an early death. The only place that warmongering pathological liar should be is prison. Ideally in one of those horrific Russian jails spending every moment fearing for his life. Not waltzing it around the world making crap speeches and wanting to become president of the European Union.
I would go on, but I fear that I would have to use words not permitted on this blog to do so.
Hawkeye @ 1:10pm spouted the following drivel:
"Rubbish. He could have refused to go to war."
Literally put, yes of course he could. But that's not what the original comment was arguing. Britain has always been expected to hold strong ties with the US, and at the time, opposing it and encouraging others to oppose it could have been seen as damaging in the long run.
(I say this despite always having been opposed to the war- denying the opposing argument is just naive.)
Equally naive is trying to argue that if the Tories were in power they would have opposed the war themselves.
"Blair's heroism??? What are you on? The boots on the ground were the heros, not Blair."
Again, you know exactly what the original poster meant. Blair was responsible for some amazing success stories alongside the disaster that was/is Iraq.
"Yes, well now it has been revealed that it had nothing to do with economics and everything to do with social engineering and getting more people into the country to vote Labour."
Rubbish.
http://www.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/5473823/the-neather-clarification.thtml
"Yeah - so is youth unemployemnt. I wonder if there is a connection? Could it be that they stay at school because your party's inept economics has ensured that they have no bl**dy jobs to go to?"
The idea of stating that this (excuse the cliche but there is no other way to say it) global economic collapse is down to Tony Blair is insane. Yes- perhaps he could have increased regulation - in hindsight- had he known (ironically at a time cameron was pushing for less). But to pretend that Tony Blair single-handedly caused a global financial collapse, effecting Wall St and all other major economies makes him into some sort of super-human figure far far beyond what I could give him credit for!
"More tractor stats. Most schools have seen no difference. The school rebuilding programme is so far behind schedule that it won't make a dent in the bulk of the school estate."
You really can't win with your type. Bad statistics are pounced upon, and good statistics are dismissed as "...more statistics". Most teachers and NHS workers will agree that overall schools and hospitals are better than they were before 1997. Hospital waiting lists and treatment times, for example. Maybe the services didn't improve enough... but that's hardly a reason for the "Blair wrecked our country" mantra.
Personally, I think lots of the attacks from hardline Consevatives are due to Blair being the man who kept them out of power for twelve years. They also fear him. Cameron even marketed himself as the heir to Blair at one point and has adopted many of his policies.
This man won three gigantic landslide victories in this country. The govenrment's understandable unpopularity right now is just causing those who hated him all along to crawl out of the woodwork and be more vocal. Why on earth would you want someone from another country as President of the Commission as opposed to your own? Some people really need to grow up.
I was awake on the night of 'shock & awe'. There was NO WAY I would have been able to sleep.
It was right up there with the other inhuman,self rightous,god betraying things America has done.
Blair believed he was a 'master' player in the world standing shoulder to shoulder with Bush,
Cheney and Rumsfeld! When ALL the time the three of them had no respect for YO Blair.
My heart was with the people in Iraq,they had DONE US NO HARM!!
Blair DOES NOT have 'political skills' he is a chancer,a crook and a fraud and a bit player,who stinks with his lust for money.
Here,in England, he played a cynical game with immigration and now the REAL change is coming.
DO NOT bank on the Tories winning because where immigration is concerned, especially the muslims, there is palpable anger out here.
Sky news are running a story on neather & a burka wearing,
emotionally distressed student.
Believe me the comments are not nice to say the least.
The English,never mind the British,are ready,able and by the looks of things willing to vote for Griffin en masse.
Labour eh? Smart arses!!!!!
The lot of them should piss off to Europe.
I can really sense trouble and this time will be for keeps.
Tone...you straight kinda guy....you REALLY have a lot to answer for in your homeland.
Personally, I really hope you are made to live out your days in some stinking crummy jail in a stinking HOT country,where the GUARDS rule the place, with NO Scottish minister to do a 'humanitarian deal'for you.I hope you are BANNISHED...along with the other nasty you married...when Griffin does get in...do not scoff you lot,I'm being SERIOUS..he may have MORE popular policies than the Tories.Like all the expert pundits say...the ballot booth is PRIVATE!
Iain...if you see Eric TELL HIM!
Bucket of tongues?????
Please.... I've just had me dinner.
Get a watershed!!!
(cont 5:52pm)
....President of the council, rather (sorry!)
The only motorcade I want to see Blair in is the one taking him to Prison
@Anonymous 5.52pm
Most people don't want Blair because;
a) They do not trust him - even thought the full story has yet to told, they believe that he manipulated the evidence re the Iraq war and has caused needless death and suffering to our own and to others.
b) Because they discovered that behind the charm there was no substance - all the words about law and order, education and social mobility turned out to be just words. This time his manipulations meant that now government statistics are routinely treated with contempt.
c) The sleaze - how near was he to being the first PM to be formally investigated by the police. And - the hypocrite - after subverting a scheme he had introduced? And remember that he oversaw the expenses regime that has only now exploded.
d) People realise that project Blair was Blair himself and believe it always will be. Come to the choice of British interests and his own personal ambitions one does not doubt which way he would go.
Do you not remember the sigh of relief across the political spectrum when he evntually quit?
The present crisis re Parliament goes back directly to Blair and contempt for the political process will be exacerbated by his return in any capacity.
I cant imagine how Brown thinks backing Blair for the EU will do anything but drag Labour down even further in the polls.
As if we have not had enough of Blair by now, the lying cheating piece of rubbish.
"Personally, I think lots of the attacks from hardline Consevatives are due to Blair being the man who kept them out of power for twelve years."
What? Are you saying I resent him? I don't resent him. I thought he was a phony before '97 and I was convinced he was a phoney after '97.
He struck me as being as genuine as a £3 note.
"They also fear him."
I don't. I loathe him. Not the same thing at all.
"... Cameron even marketed himself as the heir to Blair at one point "
Yes. What a bl**dy idiotic thing to do. Shows that Cameron is not all that bright.
"... and has adopted many of his policies."
Errr... As I recall, Blair was accused of pinching tory policies. Remember his nickname? Tory Blair?
"This man won three gigantic landslide victories in this country. "
So? I'm not a labour supporter so I'm not impressed. Blair just proves the old dictum "... you can fool all of the people some of the time..." . I'm sure you know the rest of the quote.
"The govenrment's understandable unpopularity right now "
What? According to your post this govt. have been massively successful. Teachers, nurses, doctors and patitents are in socialist Nirvana. So why is the govt. unpopular? Could it be that must of us don't swallow the press releases from the Politburo any more?
In a way it doesn't really matter. In 6 months time Labour will be staring electoral oblivion in the face. I already have the champagne on ice. I look forward to read your post on the morning after about why Labour having retained 99 seats in the election is a victory for socialism.
"Why on earth would you want someone from another country as President of the Commission as opposed to your own?"
Maybe because we might get someone with integrity and honesty and who comes across as genuine.
"Some people really need to grow up."
And others need to look in the mirror...
The EUSSR project steams ahead I see, I give it 20yrs before the "come dancing" "x-factor" obsessed begin to realise just how tyranical this project is.
Socialism in all it's guises it about control, and with the Indect project (hat tip) as well as many others we are going to realise the nightmare not even Orwell could predict.
I just wish more people would read the treaty and not listen to the EU Propoganda machine.
"My overwhelming thought is that the EU and Tony Blair deserve each other. Or am I being unfair on Tony Blair?"
If anything, you're being unfair to the EU.
Iain - what use is 'eurosceptic'? We need to be out - quickly.
A farce, tragedy more like. If he becomes president it will cause anger, fear division and just push all Europe a bit more quickly towards the long, bloody civil war between the serfs (currently known as citizens) and the fudal overlords (currently called politiians) that is now inevitable. Don't believe it? Take a look at how 'Europe' now works and how it works once the new treaty is fully in place. We are all serfs now there is no 'Europe' level demoracy.
@Hawkeye 8:18:
"I don't. I loathe him. Not the same thing at all."
and I loathe Bush but aren't banging on about him, that's my point.
"Errr... As I recall, Blair was accused of pinching tory policies. Remember his nickname? Tory Blair?"
Yes I do... but how is that an argument against what I said? Surely if he really did do that then lots of Tories Should be happy?!
The Government is unpopular right now because Gordon Brown happens to be the sh***est leader imaginable and we've been through one of the worst recessions ever- where people will always look to and blame the Government- fairly or unfairly. I hope that you were arguing the same things during the Tory recessions too.
Plus, have you ever heard of political cycles? This Government is now exhausted like the Tories were in 97, but in 10-15 years time the boot will be on the other foot! I will look forward to then, although I guess I have a LOT of waiting around to do!!
Level 3
If we know that European leaders are turning against Blair for president.
And we know that Brown would rather have anybody other than Blair for the job, why would he go on record to promote him?
Answer
Brown knows that Blair is fucked.
Therefore, as usual, Brown is positioning - it was the unpatriotic Tories who denied the UK influence in Europe.
Evidence.
As the chap said on Newsnight - the very Labour MPs who are advocating Blair now are those who campaigned to end his premiership.
This is a triangulation too far.
Ten years or so from now, we will have a global government - and who will be the first President of the World ? Tony Blair ! Yes folks Europe is just a stepping stone.
Ref:
"Ten years or so from now, we will have a global government - and who will be the first President of the World ? Tony Blair ! Yes folks Europe is just a stepping stone."
Well, we can but hope.
The alternative?
China? Saudi Arabia? Iran?
Go for it, Tony, but only if they understand the future depends on them choosing wisely.
Otherwise, forget it, and let the EU work out how on earth to deal with a new Tory government in Britain.
Then let the fun begin.
jailhouselawyer said...
if it comes to pass, I would like to see Tony Blair's motorcade drive through Iraq and Afghanistan...
As he claims it's all mine...
Boom, boom!
October 26, 2009 11:13 AM
As opposed to the sound of your axe being smashed into Bronia Burton's skull.
Crunch, crunch, splatter, splatter.
Blair would be the best candidate for a role that should not exist.
http://takeonpolitics.wordpress.com/2009/10/27/el-presidente-blair/
Blair ran away to the USA as soon as he was dropped from his job as PM. He has no credibility, is notorious for being self serving, left the UK in a huge mess. I just dont understand why a man with his reputation, who doesnt even live in Europe, should be the unelected President. To see his cheesy face, and his wife, leading Europe is a joke to far. Mandelson, Kinnock, Brown etc. must all be praying for him to get this job as it means futures for them. Pity. If there was an election, he wouldnt stand a chance.
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