Blair out
Posted in UK General Election 2005
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Eclectic link dump #12
Flash: The Library. S’cool.
Video: Men in Coats in action. Prepare to laugh like a drain.
Quiz: Which Monopoly Game Token Are You?
Art: Lots and lots and lots of political posters.
Game: Starfighter! Another nice find from The Ultimate Insult.
The morning after the day after the day after that
So, more than a few questions to address about Backing Blair, the main one being; “What’s next?!”
Well, what do you think?
Labour in. Blair out.
Looks like a job that’s half-done to me. I’ll tell you more shortly and give out the goodies for use of the forbidden word. In the meantime, here’s a timetable that’s about 17 months too long for my liking…
Independent – Blair set 18-month deadline to quit as cabinet ministers round on him: Even normally loyal ministers want him to resign by the time the party holds its conference in September 2006 – two years earlier than Mr Blair wishes. Left-wing MPs will demand this week that Mr Blair drops controversial plans for identity cards and are threatening to mount a leadership challenge against him this autumn. But insiders believe a much bigger threat to Mr Blair is posed by his own Cabinet, saying it will turn against him if he tries to hang on for longer than 18 months. Yesterday, ministers publicly rallied round Mr Blair, condemning as “self-indulgent” calls by Labour backbenchers for him to quit sooner rather than later.
There’s that self-indulgence line again. Is this Blunkett’s way of calling us wankers?
UPDATE – Tony Blair: ‘I won’t quit’: Tony Blair is expected to reveal the final shape of his ministerial team, amid growing calls for him to quit. The Prime Minister will tell Labour MPs he will not walk when they meet later this week for the first time since the General Election. Mr Blair has come under fierce attack from his backbenchers since his majority was slashed from 161 to 67. Former Cabinet ministers Frank Dobson and Robin Cook have joined the roll-call of MPs calling for him to stand down. But David Blunkett, newly restored to the Cabinet, led a counterattack branding critics “self indulgent”. The new Work and Pensions Secretary said those saying the PM should go are trying to “snatch defeat from the jaws of victory”.
Meanwhile…
RawStory – Eighty-eight members of Congress call on Bush for answers on secret Iraq plan: Eighty-eight members of Congress have signed a letter authored by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) calling on President Bush to answer questions about a secret U.S.-UK agreement to attack Iraq
Also…
Tony Blair is a lame duck. Pass it on.
Posted in UK General Election 2005
2 Comments
Anne Milton: the work goes on
The fragrant Sandra Howard: The jeers of a few vocal protesters are drowned by the cheering. It’s a rousing reception. One deeply unpleasant man near me, called Anne a “Dipstick”; she says he’s been stalking her on his website as well. She’s the best woman for the job and deserves to win – and will!
1. There were dozens of protestors (Labour and UKIP), who were actually outnumbered by people who simply didn’t like Milton, Howard and/or the Tories in general.
2. Yes, I can see how objecting to the irresponsible use of racism and fear of disease would make me an unpleasant individual.
3. Nice use of the word ‘Dipstick’, though. Funny thing is, when I used the word, she accused me of using foul language.
4. Apparently scrutiny=stalking.
5. Anne was not the best woman for the job, she didn’t deserve to win, but win she did.
So the work will continue at the Anne Milton weblog, where several Miltonites, emboldened by the win, have suddenly found a voice and turned up to make a few comments. In their minds, Milton’s squeaking past the post means that every method she used in order to pull it off is justified and/or magically fades away. Or never happened in the first place. Give them a couple of weeks, and they’ll interrupt new material that develops from ongoing scrutiny to ask why I keep dwelling on the past.
Posted in Anne Milton
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Bye-bye to bad news
Howard to stand down as leader. (More from the BBC.)
I’d like to take this opportunity to also send a farewell message to Lynton Crosby: Thanks for all the good work you did for the BNP. Don’t let the door hit your arse on the way out.
UPDATE – Guardian – Tory leadership: the runners and riders
Posted in UK General Election 2005
4 Comments
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
I have been advised that the catchphrase of the day for all surviving Labour MPs is: “an historic third term”…
A clear case of; “Never mind the majority; feel the width!”
Blair is – right now – more vulnerable than he was last summer. If you want to be rid of the wolf, then you must not allow yourselves to be herded like sheep.
You need to survey the pack and sense who is ready to go in for the kill. Then pounce.
You need to *be* the wolf.
And – above all – you need to appreciate the irony of your prey being so because he cried; “Wolf!”
UPDATE – He still just doesn’t get it, does he?
Posted in UK General Election 2005
11 Comments
I’ve voted
Lib-Dem across the board. I can’t help feel a little bad about living in a constituency that has Labour as a distant third, and my thoughts go out to everybody who has to consider voting Tory in protest.
Chin up, folks. Your vote for the right will help to move Labour back to the left.
Stay focused, and stay on target.
UPDATE – Labour persists with The Big Lie.
UPDATE – Click here for live blogging of results. I’m not sure what I plan on doing myself. Probably a lot on unlaxing until about midnight.
UPDATE – More live-blogging goodness here.
UPDATE – The Uncredibles! A late arrival, but it’s bloody excellent stuff.
Posted in UK General Election 2005
9 Comments
Rupert’s latest gift to democracy
Well, the boogeymen have bottled it. The big threat to Blair Murdoch is the rise of the Lib-Dems. And you can just smell the fear in today’s Sun:
The Scum – The chance you mustn’t waste: You only get to vote in a General Election about 15 times in your life. That’s what a precious commodity you have in your hands today. It is vital that you use it… Make sure you vote today. Vote for anyone (well, not the extremist Lib Dems) because contrary to what the moaners claim, your vote DOES count. Vote for whoever you believe will do the best for you and for the country (that rules out the Lib Dems straight away).
Heh. Lib-Dem extremists. And here was me thinking that the Tories were terrorists.
Please excuse me for a bit. I have to go out and vote. For the Lib-Dems.
UPDATE – Wait a mo. I just got a last-minute email from ‘honest’ John Prescott, who assures me that: “Today you must choose between Labour, under Tony Blair, or the Tories under Michael Howard. A vote for the Lib Dems will effectively be a vote for the Tories.”
Well John, I’ve heard this argument before… but now I hear it from someone with your working-class credentials, I certainly must say that it gives me pause for thought.
PS – You were equally convincing when you were wheeled out to defend Iraq and ID cards and detention without trial because Blair didn’t have the guts to appear on Radio 4 himself.
(goes out at votes Lib-Dem anyway)
Get out there and VOTE today, folks!
More last-minute bits and pieces
Here’s some stuff you really should read before you vote. Hell, why not print one or two of these and leave a copies on the train on the way home so some offliners can enjoy them too?
The Sharp Side – 35 Reasons for Not Voting Labour
Blood & Treasure – fuck your misgivings
Nick Barlow – It’s only freedom if you use it
UPDATE – One more from the Guardian:
Roy Greenslade – No vote for a criminal
Posted in UK General Election 2005
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