Blogroll Me! How This Old Brit Sees It ...: Bowed & Bloodied Blair Beaten As Draconian Demands Are Dumped

10 November 2005

Bowed & Bloodied Blair Beaten As Draconian Demands Are Dumped


**
It's a picture no artist could paint; it's written all over Blair's face - as well as all over the wall.

They say every dog has it's day - and now it appears this particular poodle's had his.


When his first parliamentary defeat was announced, Mr Blair did not exhibit fury.

He just shook his head, apparently confused and irritated that his party had not bowed to his will.

At Prime Minister's Questions, Mr Blair had said: "Sometimes it is better to lose and do the right thing than to win and do the wrong thing."

Rebels on education and health reforms now intend to help him experience that losing feeling again.

And it couldn't possibly have happened to a more deserving man.


Mr Blair's personal offensive began in earnest on Monday.

He used his monthly press conference to deliver an irritable message that he was not going to bend, admonishing journalists and frequently losing his temper as his judgment was put in the spotlight.

Hmm. Who, we wonder, does all that remind everyone of ?

Here are a couple [or more] clues -- as if they were ever really needed -- he's a pretty close pal of the poodle and his name begins with the same letter. He also, is a serial liar and his hands drip with blood too. Could it possibly be that it's G.W.B.?

So where did it go so disastrously wrong for a Prime minister whose touch was once so sure?

The problems began last Wednesday when David Blunkett was forced to resign and Labour's majority was slashed to one vote on a less-contentious element of the Terrorism Bill.

With defeat on 90-day detention staring the Government in the face, a potentially crippling double blow to Mr Blair's credibility, the Home Secretary announced that the Government was ready to seek a cross-party consensus.


The vote was postponed.

The move bought Mr Blair some time, but very soon compromise was off the agenda.

He ordered his MPs to spend the weekend talking to their police chiefs, who originally proposed the 90-day detention period.

Controversially, pro forma emails had been issued for police chiefs to send out backing the plans.


Well, it's certain nobody can say he didn't do his best to bully all & sundry. The truth is, he did his darned damnedest and gave it his best shot -- but his best wasn't bloody good enough;in fact, it never was.

Here's more from today's Daily Mail.


Mr Blair blocked attempts to seek a compromise with the opposition parties and launched a hectoring campaign to convince the waverers, recruiting senior police officers to twist the arm of Labour backbenchers.

His fatal mistake was to defy advice from his whips that he would lose.

Mr Blair failed to realise that his majority is no longer large enough for bullying backbenchers.

As a lame-duck Prime Minister, he no longer has the power of patronage to win them over.

And a significant number of his MPs are no longer listening.

We say, it's about time our dear Tone took a hint. He should simply sod off soon, while the going's still reasonably good. From here on things can only get worse for him -- and for most of the rest of us.

Perhaps he could now return that recent Carlyle call, and tell them he'll take them up on their earlier offer -- since he'd almost certainly find he had more friends there, than he now has here at home.

Finally, for what it's worth and for the record, This Old Brit backed the winner. On all the online opinion polls, he voted for 28 days too.

Full Dail Mail article link follows; read it and rejoice.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=368187&in_page_id=1770



28 Comments:

Blogger Richard said...

Hello, t.a.

Welcome. It's always good to get new readers [and kind compliments]. I/we do our best to spread the news - the true versions. We're a pretty well informed - but friendly, informal, and international lot. So I hope you stick with us for a while.

And yes, I will check out your own blog/place, shortly.

(I'm still just catching up on comments @ my previous blog post. Told you we were a busy little bunch of bees, didn't I? Heh.

12:20 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sooner that lying sob goes the better, Old Brit.
Have you seen this yet? Police chiefs pressuring their local MPs to vote with Blair's 90 plan?
What was it you/we were talking about on you blog not long ago - police states etc?

Look here:

Tories claim police 'politicised'

Police say terror cases need longer investigation times
The way police chiefs campaigned for new powers to detain terrorist suspects risks "politicising" the police force, ex-Cabinet ministers have claimed.

Conservatives Stephen Dorrell and Peter Lilley say it was wrong for chief constables to lobby their local MPs ahead of a Commons vote on the issue.

But Downing Street have rejected claims that police have crossed the line.


BBC link here - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4426024.stm

2:14 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I lurk here all the time but usualy read only .... 'cos I like what gets said. Some time ago, I read your piece on the police state(s) and could not argue with anything it.

If cops are now telling politicians how to vote in the UK, the end of the road isn't far off.

Freedom? Don't make me laugh.
Keep up your good work Old Brit.

11:12 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Terrorists or Israeli "black ops"?

Check this story out:

Israelis evacuated from Amman hotel hours before bombings

11/09/05 "Haaretz" -- -- A number of Israelis staying on Wednesday at the Radisson hotel were evacuated before the bombing by Jordanian security forces, apparently due to a specific security alert. They were escorted back to Israel by security personnel.

4:22 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sorry Richard I have not been online yesterday so I need to catch up

5:17 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Per Juan Cole - Haaretz has 'amended' their earlier story -interesting!

5:19 pm  
Blogger enigma4ever said...

Dear Richard- Thanks for stopping by http://watergatesummer.blogspot.com/,
and I loved your Daily Mail Comment- and truthfully if you want to send me your whole piece I would love to read it....and I see Tony is having a rather bad time of it- that is good news also...

5:45 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have read your posting and the Daily Mail article and am quite delighted that saner heads prevailed. Wish I could say the same for the American cousins! When I came across the piece in the Daily Mirror article about the government aligning with the "democratic Unionists' to get the necessary votes - I had to chuckle. I freely admit to growing up in the Irish Republic. Thank God that British people are 'clued in' and not ready to hand more authority to the police. But who would be a suitable successor to Tone? I am not up to date on internal British politics.

7:02 pm  
Blogger Richard said...

kiwi,

That IS scandalous. Police pushing MPs to go along with them - in spite of what their constituents want. That's not the last we'll hear of this. For sure.

anon,
ditto - as I said to kiwi - and thanks for that latest "terror" link, I'll check it out soon.

enigma4ever,

You're welcome - I'll drop by more often in the future. As for the Mail 'piece' - that was it - just the quick sarcky comment. (Did you maybe mistake 1,000 per-cent, for 1,000 words? )

graniab,
another one to check - juan cole, eh? Ta!

As for after Blair, if you'd asked me a couple of months or so ago - easy - Gordon brown. But now [though he's still favourite as next Labour leader] things don't seem so certain about Brown - he's lately ben changing his tune[s] a bit, on quite a few things.

9:42 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I really can't understand all the furore re the recent defeat to the 90 day detention clause. Isn't that democracy, somone puts forward a bill, it's voted upon, and defeated. Are we saying that any Prime Minister or President should step down if a bill they support is defeated?
I can, however, understand the furore of of the British public, the majority of which was in favour of the 90 day detention clause.
The MP's who voted against the 90 clause are the treacherous traitors who have gone totally against the wishes of their constituents and it is they that should be hanging their heads in shame and packing their bags. Lets hope their constituents remember this the next time they come up for re-election

3:16 am  
Blogger E.Wurzel said...

I don't think there has been a furore. I know opinion polls say that a majority of the public favoured the 90-day period, but honestly most people don't really think that deeply about the issue.

Our MPs, however, are all fairly
au fait with the disastrous experience of internment in Northern Ireland in the 70s, and all of whom were entitled to a rational basis for an extension of the detention period, which neither the Government nor the Police provided.

A combination of the worse elements of our press (who manufactured the furore), the police and the worse authoritarian tendencies of this government do not good policy make.

I read the debate in Hansard, and I was impressed by the coalition of true patriots who stood up to defend what needed to be defended.

The 90-day thing was all about defending Tony Blair's control over his party, not defending Britons.

8:45 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"but honestly most people don't really think that deeply about the issue"

That to me sounds just a little authoritarian and presumptious. No matter, those members of the public that obviously thought deeply enough about the issue to actually take part in the opinion polls, voted in favour of the 90 day detention clause.

"The 90-day thing was all about defending Tony Blair's control over his party, not defending Britons."

The 90 day clause was to enable the Police to gather and collate enough evidence to bring about a successful prosecution (of an offence that may have taken years in planning with no time limits) no more, no less. Instead the vote turned into a Party Political Point Scoring issue.

5:44 pm  
Blogger Richard said...

Elaine,

Right. They've both had a good run - but now I believe they've run their length. I think they're soon to learn that although they can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time but, not all of the people all of the time.

8:01 pm  
Blogger Richard said...

anon,

Agreed upon what democracy is.
As for Blair resigning merely due to this single item, agreed again, it's not enough - on it's own. But he was 'rebelled' against just a few days before - winning by a single vote. On top of which there are so many times when he's been proven to have misled.
And look at the list of, one time, ministers who've resigned - because they believed he'd been less than honest. And the various ambassadors who have said the same. And the two million plus marchers who made it clear they didn't believe the so-called WMD threat was reliable nough to take this country to war with.

He's virtually done away with government by cabinet, and so far gotten away with it.

In addition, many MPs have already made it plain they'll vote against him again - soon - re NHS & benefit related 'reforms'.

I actually believe the MPs who stood up to Blair will be more likely to retain their seats than many others will.

I've been away all day and as yet haven't seen any evidence of 90% of the British public wanting this 90 day rule.

As for the police, if they don't have sufficent evidence in the first place, they should not even arrest anyone - let alone hold them for three months, while they try to get something together.

In addition, the police when joining the service, knowingly take on the job of enforcing laws - NOT - engaging in the drafting and/or lobbying process.

As you pointed out originally, democracy is all about a majority of people's elected representatives deciding upon laws. The police are not elected - they represent no one. They are their to do the job they're given via parliament - whether they agree with the parameters they're given or not. To over simplify, if they feel so strongly, they can always give up the job of policing and offer themselves for election to parliament.

Additionally, it's only recently that the Met admitted that rascism was rife within their own ranks. Even more recently, a report has been issued showing that the majority of today's British policemen [note: NOT all] are quite simply not up to the job.

I can't and wouldn't ever go into detail but I can tell you that i know of one particular force with an assistant chief constable who has 'worked' his way into that high rank -- without EVER actually having made a single, solitary arrest -- in his whole life. Really. But he's been a great 'politician,' alright.

8:30 pm  
Blogger Richard said...

alan,

What you've said, is exactly what I personally think, believe and also say.

In a nutshell, messrs Blair & Blair put themselves and their own interests before anything else - and I do mean ANYTHING else.

8:35 pm  
Blogger Richard said...

Hope I've not 'missed' anyone out!?

8:36 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey, anonimous.

What kind of crap is that you're spewing? No one who comes here is dumb enough to swallow that shit.

Dissent equals treachery ??????????

Pull the other one, mate. Georgie boy tries to pull that one all the time. Hitler's mob, and the ancient Roman emperors used that old chestnut too.

People are smarter these days...... well most of us are.

Tell you what mister, I wish I knew who you were. Then I could lie through my teeth ANONYMOUSLY to the police about your suspicious, possibly terrorist, sympathies, friends, activities, etc. And about all your family's involment too.

That way you could put your ideas to the acid test .... first hand.

11:19 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Here's another poll.

Mr Blair's comments came as a poll suggested almost two-thirds (64%) of voters believe his authority has been damaged as a result of the lost vote, while 55% believe he must be more willing to reach compromises with disgruntled backbenchers.

Rumblings of backbench revolt have become louder since Wednesday's dramatic division.

Normally-loyal backbencher Martin Salter said that Mr Blair's rejection of compromise over the 90-day proposal had caused "a lot of ill-feeling in the House" and strengthened the hands of those who would like to see him ousted.

And serial rebel Jeremy Corbyn said it would be "very difficult" for Mr Blair to survive if he went down to another defeat - particularly in upcoming votes on controversial education and health reforms.


The rest is at this link.

http://channels.aolsvc.co.uk/news/article.adp?id=20051112141709990004&n=collection&p=news&c=news

12:25 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Not that Gordon Brown would necessarily be any better ....


dubhaltach the victorious :-)

3:05 pm  
Blogger Gert said...

Polls really don't mean much at all. On the 90 day issue I've seen anything from 40% YES to over 70 % YES. A lot depends on how you put the question to people.

I've had no trouble convincing some of the proponents of the 90 days that this is a bad move. Many YES sayers do so (say YES I mean), simply because they would feel they're somehow on the wrong side and not patriotic if they didn't. But may simply don't understand the legislation at all. In particular the "without charge" bit seems to have passed many by.

Being "tough" on terrorism is a bit of a fad, an armchair general's reaction as it were.

But suggest other, more effective measures and most will rise to the occasion and accept your point.

The whole anti-terror legislation has been presented in cartoon-style black and white, making it easy for people to "get with the program", without any critical thought whatsoever.

I'm all for fighing terror "at home" (rather than by remote control) but most of the new legislation is a mere distraction from what actually needs to be done...

4:16 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"In addition, many MPs have already made it plain they'll vote against him again - soon - re NHS & benefit related reforms."

It's my opinion this is true democracy and the way all governments should be run, rather than be 'bullied' and dictated to.

"I've been away all day and as yet haven't seen any evidence of 90% of the British public wanting this 90 day rule."

Nor have I, nor did I say so. All the opinion polls I saw showed the majority of those that participated in them were in favour of the 90 day clause. The results varied between 62 and 72 per cent. Not 90 per cent.

"As for the police, if they don't have sufficent evidence in the first place, they should not even arrest anyone - let alone hold them for three months, while they try to get something together"

The Police do not, nor ever have required sufficient evidence to arrest anyone. All that has ever been required is 'reasonable cause to suspect' a person has committed an arrestable offence. Normally, the period of detention without charge should not exceed 24 hours, although in some cases the maximum period, with extensions, is as long as 96 hours. As a matter of fact, the defeated 90 detention clause would not have allowed suspects to have been detained 'carte blanche' for a period of 90 days. At the end of each 7 day period of detention an application for an extension of detention would have to be submitted to a member of the judicary, together with an acceptable reason for the detention.

"As you pointed out originally, democracy is all about a majority of people's elected representatives deciding upon laws. The police are not elected - they represent no one".

I agree. However I also think that they are allowed to express an opinion, particularly as they would be best suited to know what tools they reqire in order to carry out the laws drafted by the peoples representatives to the best of their abilities. It is only a short time ago the Police voiced their opposition to the proposed 24hr drinking law. Not a hair was raised.

5:36 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i think blair's gone (and will go) the same way thatcher did - too far - then toodle-oo

this si from the bbc today
=============================

Blair warned of party 'civil war'

Mr Blair suffered defeat over plans for holding terror suspects
Tony Blair has been warned by a former senior whip that "civil war" could break out in the party if Labour MPs feel they are being ignored.
Ex-deputy chief whip George Mudie, MP for Leeds East, said the number of people threatening to rebel on education reforms scared him.

Ex-minister Frank Dobson predicted up to 100 Labour MPs would join a revolt.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4433988.stm

7:08 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What they shouldn't do however anonymous is lobby in a partisan way using a template supplied by the government of the day.

Which is what they did.

8:08 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

now i hear he's got another rebellion coming up - next week - over his id card plans

i can't wait

9:29 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"The power of the Executive to cast a man into prison without formulating any charge known to the law, and particularly to deny him the judgment of his peers, is in the highest degree odious and is the foundation of all totalitarian government whether Nazi or Communist."

Winston Churchill

3:55 pm  
Blogger Richard said...

Welcome Winnie,

And very well said, sir.

10:24 pm  
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5:35 pm  
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4:25 pm  

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