hehehe, well, to be honnest they haven't been that many good PM since Churchill. Tatcher was the worst. She was maybe needed at the time, but she was also a total fuckup for England. No free lunch.Originally Posted by William
hehehe, well, to be honnest they haven't been that many good PM since Churchill. Tatcher was the worst. She was maybe needed at the time, but she was also a total fuckup for England. No free lunch.Originally Posted by William
Let me guess, you were very young or a gleam in the milkman's eye when Thatcher was in power. I'd speculate that anyone who supports the tories never had the experience of the Thatcher cock'up years.
The tories were a bunch of crooks (and spivs) then and I still see the same faces kicking around, nothing changed there.
As I said on another thread, I remember the whole country breathing a sigh of relief when the Tories won in '79. She got rid of most of the unions' power because they were crippling the UK's economy and sorted out the pension syten so it didn't bring our country to its knees like the US pension system will.
The country boomed and our standards of living rose massively.
Maggie had to make some huge decissions to cut out the diseases that were afflicting the UK, but she had the balls to do it.
She make a right fucking mess of the Poll Tax though.
I think we will need another century before we can pass judgement on whether Churchill, Maggie or Blair have been good bad or indifferent PMs.
Blair is probably a very sincere politician (I obviously don't know what is actually going on in his head) but he is suffering for a number of reasons:
General apathy - I could look up the figures but my guess is that at the last General Election the turn out was about 55%. That means that out of the entire electorate only 25% actually wanted the labour party in badly enough to walk down to the booth and mark their paper with a X. Incidentally the Electoral Commission is concerned that an increasing number at each election deliberately deface their ballot papers (myself amongst them).
Arrogance - despite such a small general mandate Blair has a very large house majority, which means that he can push through pretty much any policy he wants, unrestrained by either the opposition or his own party's left wing.
Public Opinion - Blair is seen as more interested in his own place in history than sorting out issues at home, the man on the Clapham Omnibus is more interested in the football results than Iraq.
Distrust - Labour were elected on the promise of improving things after a long run of tainted Tory governments - they simply haven't delivered tangible benefits. Blair of course as Prime Minister carries the most blame for that.
Credibility - how any PM can tolerate a buffoon like John Prescott as his deputy is beyond belief. Labour are seen as just as corrupt and incompetent as the Tories they replaced.
There are lost of other reasons for Blairs problems but I see these as the main ones.
Lord, deliver us from e-mail.
My own feelings on this is that Blair is now completely distrusted. His standing in the opinion polls has decreased immensly over the past three months. Too many people think that he is a lap dog of GWB, who only has to bark and he will be licking at his feet. His refusal to condem the Israelie aggression in Lebanon just added more fuel to the fire.
Maybe this is just me but in a number of speeches that I have seen or heard he comes over as he wants to impose his ideas, and not those of the government or the electorate. This ties in with Dougals point on Public Opinion.
Replace Blair with Bush and it's eerily similar.
Well, Godspeed, both will be gone soon enough. Question is: how will the replacments compare?
Tony Blair has been a solid friend to the men of good will around the world. I will miss his presence on the world scene. Winston, the Iron Lady, and Tony Blair are characters I admire. I hope your country is respectful and thankful for his leadership.
- Larry Sheets, Moulton, Iowa, USA
Marmers - with all due respect - you can't seriously believe that Maggie sorted out the UK pensions system. It is now and it always has been a total screw-up. You pay in to a scheme for 40+ years and then you get fuck all at the end of it. In what way is it 'sorted'?
The sleep of reason brings forth monsters.
Ah yes because Maggie made us all rich we can now afford private pensions schemes. Pass the bong Marmite, don't keep it all to yourself.
despite his numerous accomplishments, blair's legacy will forever be tarred because of his acquiescence to the bush white house on iraq.
Would you care to expand on thatOriginally Posted by benbaaa
No, Maggie gave people the opportunity to decide for themselves, and pushed them towards doing so.
People have a choice between low taxes and welfare for the needy only, or high taxes and welfare for everyone. You can't have it both ways anymore as everything is too expensive.
just been reading that with the average house price in the UK now at 180,000 pounds that first time buers are being forced to pool resources and share the mortgage between several people.
When a teacher (who should really eptiomise the middle class) can't afford to buy a house, that is surely the sign of a failed economy.
The house I bought for about 20,000 pounds in chiangmai would be worth at least 250,000 in cardiff.
Slightly off topic but related:
You'll probably say I'm a liar but I read an article the other day in some finanical magazine that a Brit and his American wife decided to live in Chicago instead of London because the quality of health care is better in the US than the UK.
Marmite and CMN,I agree with this. Normal people just cannot afford housing in the UK anymore. I think it's a situation that is impossible to regain control over, as the UK economy is very unlikely to have a crash big enough to drop house prices by two-thirds.
Does this mean millions of Brits will be paying rent forever?
Telegraph | News | Ditch US in terror war, say 80pc of Britonsby a margin of more than five to one - the public wants Tony Blair to split from President George W Bush and either go it alone in the "war on terror", or work more closely with Europe.
>>>snip<<<
Only 14 per cent believed Britain should continue to align itself with America.
either that or hanging around for their inheritance.Originally Posted by Milkman
The quality of healthcare in the UK is appalling, and it's getting worse. Using hospitals in Thailand has been a revelation to me.Originally Posted by Storekeeper
^
I agree.
The one I use for being drip fed after abusing alcohol is like a 3 star hotel, private rooms, UBC tv, just 800 baht a night.
Insurance doesn't cover alcohol poisoning.
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