Brown Man in the Ring?

The Sunday papers in Britain were well tuned into the Tory party leadership battle and the prospect of one of them sparring against Gordon Brown, the man that nearly all the press sees as heir apparent. In fact, Brown has a better chance of succeeding Blair than Prince Charles has of being King! The shoe-in certainty is somewhat disconcerting for democrats, though. Why should Brown get moved in as PM just because Blair made a sleazy deal in the Granita restaurant? I don't think he should. He's looking more like a bear with a sore head as the days go by.

Blair, on the other hand, is now talked of as being on his way out. Sir Christopher Meyer, the former British ambassador to Washington, has said that Blair's period of premiership is coming to an end. "You can smell these things!" he said, remembering the similar reasons for the end of the John Major times. Meyer has also said that "there is plenty of evidence" that "home-grown terrorism was partly radicalised and fuelled" by Iraq. These comments were rubbished by David Miliband, the Blairite "fire extinquisher" who rather cattily said, "Christopher Meyer, I think I am right in saying, is an expert on foreign policy. He is not an expert on the domestic issues that are going on inside communities in this country."

Well, Miliband appears to be no expert on domestic issues himself and Blair is certainly no expert on foreign policy! So they're in no place to preach. However, Blair is probably going sooner than later (so take a look at my November poll, folks!) and I don't really expect Gordon Brown to be eased in like an eel to the water! I think there will be a contest and Brown will get really ticked off with Blair.

Opinion about Blair is now becoming adverse. The Sunday Telegraph gives Dario Fo, the left-wing Italian playwright and provocateur a platform for his views. Discussing his plans for a new career with the Sunday Telegraph, Fo, 79, was keen to display his contempt for other political leaders, notably Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian premier, and Tony Blair.

"Blair is a horrible man," Fo said, sitting on a sofa in his fifth-floor Milan apartment, which is decorated with theatrical masks. "He is a complete liar, very crafty and would fit in perfectly in Berlusconi's cabinet. He comes across as pleasant and charming but he has just peddled in lies and duped the nation. I'm amazed the Labour Party hasn't got rid of him. His policies have been disastrous and he has taken Britain into a war in Iraq from which it cannot now withdraw. Both he and Berlusconi are very similar. They are horrendous liars who have cheated the electorate. Italy has been ruined by Berlusconi. He's nothing short of a spiv, a travelling salesman".

Powerful talk indeed! But it is starting already and Blair may not be able to spin his way out of other people's webs!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/11/07/nblair07.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/11/07/ixhome.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/11/06/wfo06.xml

Posted in: