Why Can't Blair Just Go Quietly?

Why can't Blair just leave quietly? Because he is consumed by creating his European Legacy and, as usual, it is at our expense.

Blair surrenders Britain’s to veto EU decisions in 52 other policy areas, including tourism, transport and civil protection. The Conservatives have called for a referendum, with William Hague saying: “the Government have absolutely no democratic mandate to introduce these major changes”.

The government, and certainly not a Prime Minister on his last legs a week before he leaves office, has no right to make these changes unilaterally. Last time I checked Britain was still a democracy, at least on paper if not in practice.

Lord "Cashpoint" Levy Announces He Will Stand Down as Middle East Envoy

Lord Levy announced that he will step down as Middle East Envoy when Blair leaves office in June. Downing Street thanked him for his role and said the PM "believes, and has always said, that Lord levy has done an excellent job as his personal envoy." After the recent inquiry it is not surprising that they failed to thank Levy for his work as chief fundraiser as well.

Levy, also know as Lord Cashpoint after being arrested in recent months by police investigating cash for honours, claimed his departure "has always been anticipated and is not different to many other similar positions."

Lord Levy was arrested on suspicion of possible infringements of honours and election laws in July 2006, and, six months later, arrested again on suspicion of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. His arrests came during a year-long inquiry into allegations that honours had been sold.

The Crown Prosecution Service was given a 216-page report by Police in April. PM Blair was among 136 people interviewed by Scotland Yard . All parties questioned thus far deny any wrongdoing.

Simply because Lord Levy repeats over and over again that he "denies any wrongdoing" does not make it any more believable. Levy was a strong contributor to the years of Labour Sleaze who,along with Blair, is finally on his way out. Too bad we still have to suffer with the rest of them.

Question of the Week

Does it concern you that Tony Blair intends to use his final weeks in office to surrender British powers to Brussels as part of his drive for a European "legacy" ? Bearing in mind the repercussion this may have on the future of Britain do you believe Blair is more concerned with securing his "legacy" during his final weeks in office or the future of the country?

The article relating to this can be found at Blair's Desire for a European Legacy



Previous Question of the Week 30 April ,

SNP Victory Over Labour - Embarrassment for Brown

The SNP is victorious. The SNP won a total of 47 of the 129 seats. Labour was just one behind on 46. Britain's political map was reshaped in a dramatic result last night after the Scottish National Party ended Labour's 50-year dominance of Scotland. This is certainly to cast a shadow over Gordon Brown's expected "coronation" as Prime Minister.

Labour took a kicking from voters across Britain in the final electoral verdict on Tony Blair's decade at Number 10. This defeat was highly symbolic for not only Labour but Blair and Brown as well. Mr Brown regards Scotland as his political power base. He had taken a central role in Labour's unsuccessful campaign to halt the nationalist advance.

Labour cabinet ministers, including John Reid, the Home Secretary, and Hazel Blears, the party chairman, gave television and radio interviews however Brown attempted to distance himself from Labour's defeat in Scotland and setbacks in the rest of the UK. Instead Mr Brown issued a press release in which he promised that Labour would "listen and learn" the lessons of its defeat.

SNP leader Alex Salmond said last night that Labour had lost its "divine right" to rule Scotland. "Scotland has changed for good and forever." But it will not be smooth sailing for Salmond as he attempts to put together a coalition that will enable him to become Scotland's First Minister. The SNP's narrow victory threatens uncertainty and potential instability, particularly if Mr Salmond seeks confrontation with a Government led by Mr Brown.

Mr Salmond will need the support of at least two other parties to form a majority government. The most likely candidates are the Liberal Democrats and the Greens. However a rather large stumbling block for the other parties support will be Mr Salmond's commitment to hold a referendum on independence within four years. Yesterday the SNP leader appeared to slightly change his tune on this issue by saying there was scope for "flexibility". Jack McConnell, the Scottish Labour leader and current First Minister, refused to concede defeat last night. He pledged to "keep all options open" and said Labour would be "reflecting" on how best to move forward.

Mr Blair attempted to minimise the repercussions of the worse electoral performance of his premiership. He claimed it provided "a perfectly good springboard to go on and win the next General Election."

David Cameron passed his first big electoral test as the Conservatives won 860 council seats in England and emerged with the strongest showing in local government for almost 30 years.


Blair, Brown and Labour can try to convince themselves that the result was not a disaster. The British people have spoken and Labour's era of sleaze and corruption has passed. As the results show the people are looking for new direction and are ready to send Labour packing. It is a shame that Brown will not have the courage to call a general election when Blair resigns.

Labour - The Battle to Suceed Blair

Former Home Secretary Charles Clarke is heading the 'Stop Gordon Brown' campaign. He fired the opening shots in what threatens to be a fiercely-fought battle to succeed Tony Blair.
"Recent political history is littered with leadership favourites who have been pipped at the post," said Clarke. "There is no reason why the Chancellor should not suffer the same shock defeat." Mr Clarke, who recently called Mr Brown a 'deluded control freak', says that it is impossible to predict what will happen when Mr Blair resigns next month and the Labour leadership race starts in earnest.


The Labour Party during the last few years has had one problem after another. Most recently with the cash for honours inquiry, the handling of the Hostage Crisis, and now the battle within the party to succeed Blair. This Government is NOT heading in the right direction. We can only hope at the next general election the the public will see through the empty promises which they will no doubt make and NOT support Labour. Britain needs to rebuild its image as a country and government with strong effective leadership instead of the current image of a weak scandal-filled government in which one hand has no idea what the other is doing.

The "Real Gift" From Iran Was The Bomb They Supplied Iraq To Kill Our Soldiers

Diplomacy worked, sure it did. Iran may have returned 15 servicemen but today 4 died at the hands of an Iranian made bomb in Iraq. Four soldiers, two of them women, died when a huge Iranian-made bomb hit their patrol in Iraq. The blast exposed Ahmadinejad as the callous terrorist and hypocrite he is. While the 15 sailors and marines were on their way home from Iran, Iraqis were collecting souvenirs from the wreckage that killed our soldiers and celebrating around the 3 foot crater in the road near Basra . Blair's response was, "On the one hand we are glad that our service personnel are returned from their captivity. But on the other we return to the sober and ugly reality of what is happening through terrorism in Iraq." Perhaps if Mr. Blair took a stronger stance and there were consequences to terrorism it would no longer occur in such frequency. Including the Basra deaths six British soldiers have now been killed in six days in Iraq. This attack near Basra was carefully planned. It came at 2am just as the soldiers were returning to base after a counter-insurgency search in the slum district of Hayaniya. One vehicle was caught in a blast thought top have triggered by remote control. Britain and America have repeatedly blamed Iran for supplying the special armour-piercing bombs and triggering mechanisms used by Iraqi insurgents. So it seems we have Iran to thank for this "gift" as well. Tory MP Patrick Mercer, a former infantry commander, said last night: "This is the reality of the smile on the face of the Iranian tiger. What the Iranians have delivered with one hand they have taken away with the other." This attack just adds to the humiliation Blair has subjected Britain to over the hostage crisis. As I have said before, unless we take a strong military action against these people we will be terrorized indefinitely. Why would they stop? Thus far there have been no consequences for the vicious attacks and acts of terrorism they repeatedly inflicted on our country.

British Crew is Home but More Soldiers Killed Today in Iraq

More die in the Middle East. Is it sad, yes. Is it surprising, unfortunately not.

"Just as we rejoice at the return of our 15 service personnel, so today we are also grieving and mourning for the loss of our soldiers in Basra, who were killed as the result of a terrorist act," Blair said outside his office at 10 Downing St

Blair claims that the return of the service personnel today was a triumph in Diplomacy, I am not so sure. I would however, call it a PR triumph for the Iranian President. Iran's release of the eight sailors and seven marines raised hopes among some that Tehran might be open to compromise on other matters, particularly Western demands for a halt to Iran's uranium enrichment program. But Iran already was warning it would retaliate if the West pushed too hard. After Britain's "walking on eggshells" stance over the hostage situation it doesn't seem Iran has any fear, or reason to fear, the west's response should it "retaliate" for being pushed. As far as Iraq goes, men and women will continue to die, as they did today, in what the west is calling a terrorist attack. We need to show the Middle East that we will no longer tolerate the terrorism they sponsor on a daily basis. I do not have all the answers, I wish I did, but I do know there is a better way than our leaders chatting over tea and sending nice notes while our soldiers die. For news footage of the aftermath of todays attack click this link http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/ver/223/popup/index.php?cl=2301810

Iranian Hostages Will Be Released as a "Gift"

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says 15 British naval personnel captured in the Gulf are free to leave.
Ahmadinejad still maintains that the British sailors and marines "invaded" Iranian waters, but said they were being released as a "gift" to Britain. They are expected to fly home to the UK on Thursday. New television pictures showed the Iranian president smiling, chatting and shaking hands with the crew at the presidential palace in Tehran. It is reported that one crew member said: "I'd like to say that myself and my whole team are very grateful for your forgiveness. I'd like to thank yourself and the Iranian people... Thank you very much, sir." One can only imagine what the crew were really thinking. Ahmadinejad spoke at a news conference marking the Persian New Year for an hour reprimanding the west over its policy in the Middle Wast before even mentioning the hostages. When he did he said,"We have every right to put these people on trial,But I want to give them as a present to the British people to say they are all free." He continued with his "grand gesture" by saying,"I'm asking Mr Blair to not put these 15 personnel on trial because they admitted they came to Iranian territorial water," referring to taped "confessions" made by the British sailors and marines. Ahmadinejad also addressed Prime Minister Blair during the speech. "I ask Mr Blair: Instead of occupying the other countries, I ask Mr Blair to think about the justice, to think about the truth and work for the British people not for himself," Mr Ahmadinejad said. "Unfortunately the British government was not even brave enough to tell their people the truth, that it made a mistake." He even gave the soldiers who captured the Britons medals. Blair did not address the Iranian president in response. Instead he said, "We bear you no ill will. We respect Iran as an ancient civilisation. " I for one do NOT respect Iran and think as soon as we get the sailors out of there we should take a very strong military action against them to discourage this from happening again. Iran has treated us like children and in turn Britain now appears as an easy target for future hostage situations and terrorist activities. Iran gave the hostages back to us as a "gift" Not exactly the image Britain should have. It appears as if we are weak a beholdent to Iran and that, pathetically, we should be indebted to them for being so kind as to return our people. Once again, they held HOSTAGE our men and women, they ATTACKED the British Embassy, the made a spectacle of the hostages on TV. This was all done with the approval of their government and President, but now we should be incredibly grateful for this "gift" they have given us by releasing hostages they never should have taken in the first place?