Comment at end
23rd May, 2009
A few of the links that have caught my eye in the last day or so.
- Blair – the motivated Christian, by his constituency agent John Burton: The 9/11 attacks of 2001 thrust Tony on to the world stage. He spent the next year building international support for dealing with the Taliban, making it almost impossible to deal with domestic issues. The task fell to Gordon – an expediency Tony would live to regret.
He and the Chancellor had different agendas. For instance, unlike Tony, Gordon saw no reason to place choice and diversity in the public sector at the top of the agenda.
Tony’s nadir was 2004. In March, an incident involving one of the children stunned him and left him wondering whether his family could take any more. The Brown camp seized the moment of the family’s despair to offer to find an honourable exit for Tony.
He was exhausted and depressed. Cherie and most of the Cabinet were against his going, but the pressure continued.
On September 6, 2006, the headlines – about an acrimonious meeting between Blair and Brown over when Tony would step down – made grim reading. He was staring down the barrel of a shotgun, and the finger on the trigger was Gordon’s.
Ten years of brooding had boiled over. His message was blunt: ‘Do as I say, or you’ll be bundled from office.’
The next day, Tony announced he’d stand down within a year. Then, after all the threats and the shouting, Gordon and his allies got cold feet and denied plotting a coup.
They had chipped away at Tony for years, but nothing matched this ridiculous behaviour – trying to oust a constitutionally elected Prime Minister. If it had happened in a Third World country, politicians worldwide would have condemned it.
After his farewell speech at Trimdon Labour Club in May, 2007, Tony told me he knew he would have been able to deal with Conservative leader David Cameron at the next General Election, but he didn’t believe Gordon would have it in him.
- Ken Loach – “bonehead” has a go at the Israelis again
- President Blair? Qui? Moi?
- Left-wing Labour MP Paul Flynn agreeing with Tory Nadine Dorries
- David Cameron says “sorry… Blair-style”. Ah but of course!
- Eastenders’ “Grant” to stand as Labour Parliamentary candidate
- The Sainted Obama “assumes rights of a dictator.” Ooops! Where DO the disappointed turn NOW?
- The US talks peace with The Taliban & Al Qaeda
- Former America Colonel advocates military attack on “partisan media”
- U.S. relies more on allies in questioning terror suspects
Islamic Finance site with mention of the Hizb ut-Tahrir Economic gathering, January. Keep an eye on this crowd.
AND, from the same site -
Hitting out at the corruption of British MPs – and explaining WHY it happened (from the ‘virtuous’ Sharia angle): “The Muslim world too has suffered from this corruption since the decline of the Caliphate and Islamic rule was replaced with man made rules and laws. But it is this very failure of democracy which is leading to a revival in the call for Shariah throughout the Muslim world – where the West has long lost any form of leadership whether moral, economic or political.”
Tags: David Cameron, Hizb ut-Tahrir, Islamic Finance Sharia, Ken Loach, Obama, Sharia, Tony Blair
