|
"Blair is as left wing as British society can tolerate"
I think Thursdays results suggest a change of leader to a "proper" Labour leader like Gordon Brown would go down better than Blair. I think you'd have been right in 1997, but given Labour have done a great job on the economy and social justice (I'd only give them a C on education and health), I think Brits could now vote for a mainstream Labour politician;
"There hasn't been alot of economic, political and cultural power in the middle classes"
On the contrary, since 1979, when Thatcher was swept to power by the petit bourgeoise, the middle class has had ALL the political power in Britain - remember, in 1997, in order for Blair to get elected, he had to openly pander to middle class Britain by promising no tax rises and to be tough on crime. Watch TV in Britain or read most of our daily papers to see how much high-brow culture has been eroded. Economically too, the good times are rolling for the middle classes, though taxes are creeping inexorably up with the redistributionist policies of Gordon Brown the Chancellor (Treasury Secretary);
"The UK has a ton of working class people"
Depends on your definition of a ton. We now have an underclass made up about 10-15% of the population who have long term social and economic problems, much fewer than 20 years ago. Many children of the old working class are now middle class. The working class problem in Britain is now depth rather than breadth
"Salaries for the middle classes are kind of low and people spend a lot of time at work"
The middle class covers a huge band and at the lower end, people probably earn c. $20k pa. That's only low if you're trying to buy a house. On your second point, Brits of all job types spend alot less time at work than Americans. Standard working week is 37.5 hours, and if you're a clerk in a bank, this is what you will work. You'll also likely get 25 days leave pa, 11 bank holidays, free health care, free (or almost free) college for your kids. Of course if you're a hot-shot investment banker in London, you'll work 80-100 hour weeks, but then more fool you.
"Blair is committed to the worker rather than corporations"
True to an extent, but Blair does not appeal at all to the British working class - he appeals to the aspiring middle class, just as Thatcher did. Gordon Brown is quietly redistributing wealth to the poor with big hikes in non-payroll taxes, but you wouldn't know it by listening to Blair - he's too keen to keep the middle classes onside and so would rather not tell them that his Chancellor is picking their pockets when they're not looking. Blair recognises the importance of big business to employment/global competitiveness etc and so has invested alot of time on so-called "prawn cocktail offensives" with the City of London to ensure they contribute to his election funds, though it's fair to say, business is pretty disillusioned with Labour due to the welter of regulation he's unleashed, and I think after a brief flirtation with Blairism, they're back with the Tories;
"Blair has no choice but to deliver power to working people"
Depends on your definition of "working people". Most people in Britain work. If you mean the working class, this is not true at all - all politicians in Britain want the middle class - nurses, teachers, firemen, bank clerks, car salesmen, policemen, call centre agents etc etc. To Labours credit, and this is where I completely agree with your post, they've not forgotten the dwindling poor working and unemployed class. They have actively redistributed. This wasn't politically necessary however;
"People don't get what he's doing and would rather talk about the war"
Peoples taxes have been going up for long enough now to know Labour is redistributing wealth to the poor (and hurrah for that I say). However, please remember, it's Gordon Brown who is getting credit for this and Tony Blair who is getting credit for the war. This is HIS war, not the Labour party's war. I think most people in Britain think you can have social justice and still be vehemently opposed to Tony Blair and his buddy buddy act with *
"With the war, he really had no choice"
I'm sorry but that's hogwash. He lied to his own parliamentary colleagues about WMD in order to squeak a vote through Parliament (only with the support of the Tories); he still hasn't released his Attorney Generals advice on the legality of the war; he promised the British people that he would only go to war with a second UN resolution - one that never came because Bush knew he could never get the votes; he promised us that by supporting Bush, it would affect a more equitable solution to Palestine etc etc. None of this has come to pass, and because of this, his place in history will be forever stained. He saw himself as a just Thatcher, bestriding the British political scene for a generation. Iraq instead has reduced him to soiled goods, and the sooner he's gone and replaced with a proper Labour politician, the better.
Other than that, I agree with everything you wrote!!!
|
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(273 posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
