Reply #29: I don't think you'd have liked Michael Howard any better, to put it mildly

[LeftishBrit]

That was the alternative. Imagine a right-wing Democrat as President, no primary system at that level, and the only alternative is a still-worse Republican. That's roughly the cleft stick we're in. FWIW, I have never voted for Blair, and am fortunate enough to live in a constitutency where my third-party vote actually counts - most people aren't.

There are lots of things wrong with our political system; and one of them is that it gives too much power to very unrepresentative leaders - both Thatcher and Blair are on the far right of their respective parties. But most people here don't like Blair, and especially don't like his poodling to Bush.

I hope all of us here are on the same side - not against our countries or one another's countries, but against our bad LEADERS.