first of all i think people have very short memories sometimes. If I look back ten years do think we have moved on and are in a better position as a country than before. I mean we haven't had a three day week: we haven't got 3 million unemployed: we haven't got a fiasco of a poll tax..etc etc. I do think Iraq which in hindsight( a great virtue) was a mistake, will cloud the good things done. Also rememeber that the Tory party wholehartedly supported his actions in Iraq.
But to the main points
You vote for your local MP and the party. Not for the leader, of that party. Lets rememember some people actually move parties and still, don't trigger an election.
The leader of the party steers the ship. However the direction of that ship are governed by policies set by the whole party. If he tried to run the ship single handed he would simply run aground.
the leader of the party is quite rightly selected by its party members. I mean as a Wolves supporter, if the manager resigned would i want Albion and Birm fans having a say in our manager !!
I was once heavily involved in politics. there will always be a few bad apples, but let me tell you 95% of MP's are bloody hard working gys and gals. Tony Blair said himself...and i do believe him when he said he may well of made mistakes, but any decision he took was with the best interests of the country in mind.
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Blair to go ?
Sex God
You've got enough to answer for in the blame you thread so its best you keep a low profile :giggle:
Sex God
I have to say that i'm going to miss Blair. Hes been in power half of my life, hes the leader i grew up under and although he made some decisions i dont exactly agree with i still have a great deal of respect for the man. I'm not sure i like the idea of having Gordon Brown as a leader...
Tony Blair
02th May 1997 - 26th June 2007
Tony Blair
02th May 1997 - 26th June 2007
Sex God
Quote by deancannock
first of all i think people have very short memories sometimes. If I look back ten years do think we have moved on and are in a better position as a country than before. I mean we haven't had a three day week: we haven't got 3 million unemployed: we haven't got a fiasco of a poll tax..etc etc. I do think Iraq which in hindsight( a great virtue) was a mistake, will cloud the good things done. Also rememeber that the Tory party wholehartedly supported his actions in Iraq.
But to the main points
You vote for your local MP and the party. Not for the leader, of that party. Lets rememember some people actually move parties and still, don't trigger an election.
The leader of the party steers the ship. However the direction of that ship are governed by policies set by the whole party. If he tried to run the ship single handed he would simply run aground.
the leader of the party is quite rightly selected by its party members. I mean as a Wolves supporter, if the manager resigned would i want Albion and Birm fans having a say in our manager !!
I was once heavily involved in politics. there will always be a few bad apples, but let me tell you 95% of MP's are bloody hard working gys and gals. Tony Blair said himself...and i do believe him when he said he may well of made mistakes, but any decision he took was with the best interests of the country in mind.
Spot on Dean
:thumbup: So I balme you now for me not having to write that. Just to add as Dean said you vote for your MP if there is a leadership election you should write to your MP or go to his/her surgery and tell them who you want them to vote for and why.Ohh and to who ever asked where all the extra interest goes it goes to investors.
Sex God
Quote by Ukwineman
GOOD F**KING RIDDENS trouble is theres no one decent inopposition to take over, said it before most are there to line thier own pockets. Blair is now off to USA to make a mint on the lecture circuit, whilst us humble people have to deal with the s**t he has left behind.
IMHO
We are doing quite well thanks and have benefited from quite a few policys this Labour goverment has introduced so I guess in a way he left us smelling of roses and not dealing in shit. Obviously not everthing has gone our way but in the large majority of issues we have done pretty well out of Tony. Just our humble opinion.
Quote by tweeky
GOOD F**KING RIDDENS trouble is theres no one decent inopposition to take over, said it before most are there to line thier own pockets. Blair is now off to USA to make a mint on the lecture circuit, whilst us humble people have to deal with the s**t he has left behind.
IMHO
We are doing quite well thanks and have benefited from quite a few policys this Labour goverment has introduced so I guess in a way he left us smelling of roses and not dealing in shit. Obviously not everthing has gone our way but in the large majority of issues we have done pretty well out of Tony. Just our humble opinion.
Always been said you can never please all the people all the time.
in edit: that comment was not meant to be directed at you personnaly just realised it may have sounded like it.
Interest rates are not set solely by the bank of england.
Interest rates are set by the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee. The MPC sets an interest rate it judges will enable the inflation target to be met. The Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is made up of nine members – the Governor, the two Deputy Governors, the Bank's Chief Economist, the Executive Director for Markets and four external members appointed directly by the Chancellor. The appointment of external members is designed to ensure that the MPC benefits from thinking and expertise in addition to that gained inside the Bank of England.
As for voting for the PM directly, and not for the party/ies, yeah. Like, people would really be able to handle that. In the local elections we had a choice of voting for a FIRST choice candidate (put a 1 by the side of him/her) and a SECOND choice candidate (put a 2 by the side of him/her) nearly a quarter got it wrong. No hope with a "vote for the party you want, and then a pm within that party ". As for interest rates. What can I say. They go up to control inflation, which is rising because you're spending your cash on foreign stuff, so you have less to spend on foreign stuff !
You know the "250 quid baby-bonus cheque" that the gov instituted for new born children ?
Well, it seems that tens of thousands of supposedly intelligent adults cannot figure what to do with them, to the extent that the revenue are going to open the accounts for the children !
I don't suppose the phrase "breeding for stupidity" would go down well, would it ?
Interest rates are set by the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee. The MPC sets an interest rate it judges will enable the inflation target to be met. The Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is made up of nine members – the Governor, the two Deputy Governors, the Bank's Chief Economist, the Executive Director for Markets and four external members appointed directly by the Chancellor. The appointment of external members is designed to ensure that the MPC benefits from thinking and expertise in addition to that gained inside the Bank of England.
As for voting for the PM directly, and not for the party/ies, yeah. Like, people would really be able to handle that. In the local elections we had a choice of voting for a FIRST choice candidate (put a 1 by the side of him/her) and a SECOND choice candidate (put a 2 by the side of him/her) nearly a quarter got it wrong. No hope with a "vote for the party you want, and then a pm within that party ". As for interest rates. What can I say. They go up to control inflation, which is rising because you're spending your cash on foreign stuff, so you have less to spend on foreign stuff !
You know the "250 quid baby-bonus cheque" that the gov instituted for new born children ?
Well, it seems that tens of thousands of supposedly intelligent adults cannot figure what to do with them, to the extent that the revenue are going to open the accounts for the children !
I don't suppose the phrase "breeding for stupidity" would go down well, would it ?
In Japan they have a 50 year plan, that means what they do now is directly geared to life in that time. yes lots of stuff is done for now and the next few years but finacial stabilty and future prospects are done in that time frame. Why we have to base everything on the next four years to keep one party/person in power regardless of the future is beyond me.
Quote by deancannock
first of all i think people have very short memories sometimes. If I look back ten years do think we have moved on and are in a better position as a country than before. I mean we haven't had a three day week: we haven't got 3 million unemployed: we haven't got a fiasco of a poll tax..etc etc. I do think Iraq which in hindsight( a great virtue) was a mistake, will cloud the good things done. Also rememeber that the Tory party wholehartedly supported his actions in Iraq.
You have to go a lot further back than 10 years for the 3 day week...back to Ted Heath's time. When Labour came to power in 1997, unemployment was approaching 2 milion. In Feb this year it was million. How many times have the method of compiling the stats been altered to suit the government?
Fiascos we now have include hospitals, schools, police forces hamstrung by attempting to hit targets whose sole purpose is to enable the government to use the statistics to tell us how wondeful everything is when we all know the reality. We may not have the poll tax but how much has council tax increased under this government? As for the Tories supporting the war on Iraq, they, like the rest of the country were lied to by a government hell bent on going to war alongside George Bush's personal crusade.
.
The leader of the party steers the ship. However the direction of that ship are governed by policies set by the whole party. If he tried to run the ship single handed he would simply run aground.
Mt Blair, more than any other prime minister, ran a presidential style government where the cabinet was reduced to an irrelovance...policies were not made by the government as a whole but by unelected "aides" and cronies. In the end, Mr Blair's ship did run aground, he was all rhetoric and spin...very little substance
IMHO
.
Sex God
Quote by Mallock2006
Today his Tonyness is expected to announce his leaving date..
What I wonder is this.....
Should it not be the public who votes for his sucsessor
Do people vote for the party in a general election or do they vote for the front man/woman :dunno:
After all....Isnt it the leader that steers the party in terms of policies etc :dunno:
Personally I feel the country should vote for the new leader as its the country that put the party into power initially...
How do you feel..
I would have been more incline to agree with what you said mallock if the conservatives had done the same thing when Maggie Thatcher was deposed as prime minister........
why should it be one rule for one party.. and not for another.....
sean xxx
Sex God
think all the parties are as bad as each other in promising things that we don't get. I hope Tony well & also hope that for one things get better with education, the NHS and the rest!!
Only my opinion
Politics - not my cup of tea, rather have a
:rotflmao:
Only my opinion
Politics - not my cup of tea, rather have a
:rotflmao: 
Sex God
Quote by essex34m
Well i'm not a lover of this Government or of Blair. But what a speech!!! give the guy credit he made me feel British and proud with it
the first time i've ever said this
WELL DONE TONY
so all that is wrong with the country, caused by Labour, has been undone by one 10 minute speech?
Eh?.....I just gave a reaction to the speech Tony Blair Gave that made me feel good to be British for a little while. At no point did i mention anything regarding the state of the country
. In fact I distinctly remember saying i'm not a lover of this Government or of Blair.- which i still maintain ? Is it not possible to congratulate someone you diagree with for something you think they did well on the odd occasion :!: I sincerely hope not
. Sex God
When relecting on the years that Tony Blair was in power people can look back and comment on the mistakes he made, say good riddance and be glad that hes gone, but just imagine what this country would be like if we still lived under a conservative government.
Sex God
Quote by Drewxcore
When relecting on the years that Tony Blair was in power people can look back and comment on the mistakes he made, say good riddance and be glad that hes gone, but just imagine what this country would be like if we still lived under a conservative government.
FFS we've just been living under a 'conservative' government since 1997. When asked what her greatest achievement was - Maggie Thatcher said 'New Labour'!!
:rotflmao: :rotflmao: .
Sex God
Quote by Ukwineman
GOOD F**KING RIDDENS trouble is theres no one decent inopposition to take over, said it before most are there to line thier own pockets. Blair is now off to USA to make a mint on the lecture circuit, whilst us humble people have to deal with the s**t he has left behind.
IMHO
We are doing quite well thanks and have benefited from quite a few policys this Labour goverment has introduced so I guess in a way he left us smelling of roses and not dealing in shit. Obviously not everthing has gone our way but in the large majority of issues we have done pretty well out of Tony. Just our humble opinion.
Always been said you can never please all the people all the time.
in edit: that comment was not meant to be directed at you personnaly just realised it may have sounded like it.
I didnt think anything was directed this way was just opposing the view that we had been left in shit as we havent thats all 
Delightful old Maggie, bless her.
A wonderful story I heard, reported to be true, was that when dining at a posh London restaurant with members of her cabinet and after ordering her main dish, the waiter asked her "... and the vegetables ma'am?" to which she replied "oh, they'll have the same as me"
I doubt we will ever speak with the same affection about Bliar.
A wonderful story I heard, reported to be true, was that when dining at a posh London restaurant with members of her cabinet and after ordering her main dish, the waiter asked her "... and the vegetables ma'am?" to which she replied "oh, they'll have the same as me"
I doubt we will ever speak with the same affection about Bliar.
Quote by Mr-Powers
Interest Rates no longer have anything to do with the politians...it was handed over directly to the Bank of England...so they could look after it properly without interfering politians...using them as a sweetner at election times!
You mean they handed control over to the Bank so that on the face of it the Bank would bear the brunt of critisism when interest rates rise
yes....but i would rather have them in the hands of the expects than the politians.
Sorry to go back to this point, but something was gnawing its way in the back of my mind...
Of course the BoE sets the interest rate.. but you can't de-politicise the process.
Who sets the target inflation rate to which it is pegged? The politicians of course! :small-print: :doh:
Or did I miss something?
Quote by GnV
Delightful old Maggie, bless her.
A wonderful story I heard, reported to be true, was that when dining at a posh London restaurant with members of her cabinet and after ordering her main dish, the waiter asked her "... and the vegetables ma'am?" to which she replied "oh, they'll have the same as me"
I doubt we will ever speak with the same affection about Bliar.
i'm sure i saw that one on Spitting Image!
Quote by Mallock2006
But surely one leader may lead the party with different direction to another and so may not be as popular with the public... so if they stood as leader to get their party into number 10 they may not have been elected....
I think that may be just one of the reasons Tony Blair decided to stand down early. Its far easier than having a general election with a vote for a new candidate. It gives the new primeminister time to work his magic
louise xx
Quote by louise_and_joe
But surely one leader may lead the party with different direction to another and so may not be as popular with the public... so if they stood as leader to get their party into number 10 they may not have been elected....
I think that may be just one of the reasons Tony Blair decided to stand down early. Its far easier than having a general election with a vote for a new candidate. It gives the new primeminister time to work his magic
louise xx
But, at the last election when the Tories were saying Vote Tony get Gordon, didn't Bliar slap them down giving everone the impression he was going to go full term?
Quote by PoloLady
Mt Blair, more than any other prime minister, ran a presidential style government where the cabinet was reduced to an irrelovance...
IMHO
Yes, Mrs Thatcher was much more diplomatic in the manner she just told her cabinet what they would think.
I would agree with you, especially towards the end of her premiership. It's the old adage of absolute power......although in the end it was her (ex) cabnet ministers that brought her down. I think the difference is that Mr Blair ran a presidential style government from day 1, with people such as Alastair Campbell exerting more influence than elected politicains.
Again, IMHO
