Barack Obama - Oh no

"I want to thank my good friend Tony Blair for coming today, somebody who did it first and perhaps did it better than I will do."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/blog/2009/feb/05/blair-obama-first-friend

Nothing really wrong with Blair's regime IMO

His hands were tied by our biggest alli(sp) deciding to go to 'war on terrorism' and ended up getting tarred with the same brush as Bush when it all went t1ts up

I agree...blair was an exceptional politician...whether people agree with his motives and how he did things is another matter...but as a leader and a politician..he was superb

I agree...blair was an exceptional politician...whether people agree with his motives and how he did things is another matter...but as a leader and a politician..he was superb

FWIW I thought that Baroness Barmy was a good leader, more balls than Blair in my opinion. The big BUT is I hated her for her policies and her legacy.

As a Labour voter I was totally disenchanted with Blair toward his end.

I agree...blair was an exceptional politician...whether people agree with his motives and how he did things is another matter...but as a leader and a politician..he was superb

Blair makes Brown look like the amateur that he is. If Blair had stayed i think labour would have won the next election, thankfully the loony socialists weren't in tune with the public and they ensured labour is now heading for opposition.

Blair makes Brown look like the amateur that he is. If Blair had stayed i think labour would have won the next election, thankfully the loony socialists weren't in tune with the public and they ensured labour is now heading for opposition.

Out of the fire........into the sh!t

Blair was the great communicator. He was the consumate politician. I you didn't like his policies, you had to admire his skill. Although he didn't like Parliament, he was brilliant during Prime Minister's Questions, where his communiction skills flourished. Rarely did the Opposition leader get one over on him. Look how many they went through before they came up with someone approaching anything like a candidate. And he was always ready with a self deprecating joke. It all worked, and only rarely was he out of his depth. Which is why they were such big moments, when he was. I always thought he went into Iraq in order to keep Bush in check. His was the only voice Bush would listen outside of his own country, and IMO, he paid the political price for supporting the U.S. to keep Presdient Idiot under control.

I think that people in the Labour Party will come to rue the day they ushered in Blair's retirement.

Blair was the great communicator. He was the consumate politician. I you didn't like his policies, you had to admire his skill. Although he didn't like Parliament, he was brilliant during Prime Minister's Questions, where his communiction skills flourished. Rarely did the Opposition leader get one over on him. Look how many they went through before they came up with someone approaching anything like a candidate. And he was always ready with a self deprecating joke. It all worked, and only rarely was he out of his depth. Which is why they were such big moments, when he was. I always thought he went into Iraq in order to keep Bush in check. His was the only voice Bush would listen outside of his own country, and IMO, he paid the political price for supporting the U.S. to keep Presdient Idiot under control.

 

I think that people in the Labour Party will come to rue the day they ushered in Blair's retirement.

It's a case of style vs substance really. Although I agree Labour were too quick to boot him out. Classic pendulum swing really.

I wouldn't bet on Brown losing the election. He has a lot of fortitude that the Tories can't match yet - hence the return of Ken Clarke to the Tory front bench despite Tory Euro disagreements.

I suspect many business sector employers believe that Brown is doing what he can with the recession and is a safer pair of hands than the Cam Pack. The election of Obama will help Brown/Labour too if Obama does good in his honeymoon.

Just imagine the popular poll bounce for Labour if Brown replicates Obama by placing pay caps on top executives at UK banks that have been bailed out! Trivial but emotional stuff.

It's a case of style vs substance really. Although I agree Labour were too quick to boot him out. Classic pendulum swing really.

 

I wouldn't bet on Brown losing the election. He has a lot of fortitude that the Tories can't match yet - hence the return of Ken Clarke to the Tory front bench despite Tory Euro disagreements.

 

I suspect many business sector employers believe that Brown is doing what he can with the recession and is a safer pair of hands than the Cam Pack. The election of Obama will help Brown/Labour too if Obama does good in his homeymoon.

 

Just imagine the popular poll bounce for Labour if Brown replicates Obama by placing pay caps on top executives at UK banks that have been bailed out! Trivial but emotional.

I agree TG. Gordon Brown is a safer pair of hands in Downing St than anything on the Conservative benches. Whether he is electable is another matter.

I agree TG. Gordon Brown is a safer pair of hands in Downing St than anything on the Conservative benches. Whether he is electable is another matter.

That will be the issue.

Can you spot the 44 president of the USA

This country needs a change. The tory party, when in power, always help the small businessman and put money into the workers pockets. This creates a healthy economy. Once we forget just how things once were and we wonder why the schools are under performing along with the hospitals and other facilities paid for by taxation, we decide to vote in the labour party. Bit by bit our economy begins to shrink, we get taxed more and we are told that schools, hospitals etc are better. Small businesses can no longer survive and the country heads into the cr@p again.

The tories will get in power, and they will drop taxes, and business will begin to prosper again and one day it will be pointed out that the schools and hospitals are again cr@p and so it starts all over.

I agree...blair was an exceptional politician...whether people agree with his motives and how he did things is another matter...but as a leader and a politician..he was superb

I agree. The fact that he has now gone shows how much we are missing him IMO. I genuinely believe he tried to do what he thought was best for England (don't agree with everything he did but that's all I ask for from a leader because I am realistic.) I'm not sure I can say the same for Brown though.

However bad Labour are I just cannot bring myself to vote for Cameron. There is something about him that I find odious and repugnant. Can't exactly put my finger on it but it's there ad everything he does just seems false to me.

However bad Labour are I just cannot bring myself to vote for Cameron. There is something about him that I find odious and repugnant. Can't exactly put my finger on it but it's there ad everything he does just seems false to me.

I think we should be steering away from thinking about voting for a person. We are voting for the policies of the party and which could do a better job. He may come across as a bit of a plum-in-the-mouth-tosspot but his party seem to have ideas about how to revive the great economy they handed over to Labour 11 years ago.

I think we should be steering away from thinking about voting for a person. We are voting for the policies of the party and which could do a better job. He may come across as a bit of a plum-in-the-mouth-tosspot but his party seem to have ideas about how to revive the great economy they handed over to Labour 11 years ago.

Forgot to mention that he is rather light on policies also... As much as we say to concentrate solely on the policies, the personalities have always been important. At the end of the day if I see someone like Cameron and I don't trust him, then why should I trust that he would keep to his promises? (oh and btw neither Labour or the Tories when they were last in power kept a whole host of their promises, I specifically read their manifestos just out of curiosity and it's all a load of rubbish.)

we have a bit of a weird democratic system...

the commons will get defeated on anything..so making promises in an election is hard...the house of lords on the other hand has been defeated twice in god knows how many years (and in the same period the commons has been defeated around 400 times)..they make the law and they are unelected..

Respec'

 

Respec'

That would be the terrorist fist bump again!

If Ken Clarke had been voted in as Tory Leader, Labour would have been quaking in their boots!

If Ken Clarke had been voted in as Tory Leader, Labour would have been quaking in their boots!

You're dead right there. Bringing him back to the front bench is a good move as he is a showman who knows the score. Brown on the other hand is completely out of his depth on the front bench.

I do like ken Clarke - the Yanks would say "he's the sort of guy you could have a beer with", Brown on the other hand would bore the **** out of me. He's got no charisma or personality. I reckon someone has told him to smile more as he's smiling all the time now and it's embarrassingly unconvincing.