NO MORE STITCH-UPS FOR BLAIR

The news that Tony Blair is being endorsed as President of Europe should come as no surprise to anyone who realises where the real power of this Government now resides. Peter Mandelson, plotter-in-chief and one of the most effective politicians of his generation, now effectively holds the strings which are keeping Brown in power. It's only thanks to Mandelson that Brown survived the serious coup attempt of a couple of months ago and, obviously, there was a price to pay.

One of which is, seemingly, suggesting the return of TB to the stage as holder of a £275,000 a year post in the EU. To Blair, now earning millions on the US lecture circuit, this is chickenfeed financially. But presumably he misses strutting around as a player closer to home.

New Cabinet Minister Glenys Kinnock, also part of the cabal which saved GB, is already enthusiastically drumming up support. Which is all deeply depressing news for all of us who have had enough of corrupt power politicians who seem to think they have a God-given right to high office.

Hasn't Blair done enough in consigning troops and the indigenous people of Afghanistan and Iraq to endless violence without returning to wreak havoc in the EU. I may not have said yes to No2EU. But I most definitely say NO to TB.

Frankly, the Labour Party has had enough of the Blairs and their unending boarding of the gravy train.

TENNIS WITH TONY......

A game of tennis with Tony Blair was one of the star prizes at a fund-raising dinner for Labour last night. Other goodies included lunch with Alex Ferguson and the chance to be a character in a novel by Alistair Campbell. I gather after-dinner entertainment was provided by Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees. His repertoire, I understand, included that well-known Bee Gees number Tragedy. In Labour's dire financial circumstances, not the wisest of choices. "Stayin' Alive" might have been a better bet.........

STOP BLAIR!

If the thought of Tony Blair re-appearing in our lives as the President of the EU brings you out in a sweat then now is your chance to sign this petition - and pass it on !

http://www.stopblair.eu/

"SCOUSE GIT" SOUNDS OFF AGAIN.......

When I think of Tony Booth (which isn't often) there are two words which spring to mind. One is loose. And the other one is cannon. He now lives locally and it was with a certain amount of trepidation that I watched him arrive at our John McDonnell leadership campaign meeting a year or so ago.
I have to say that despite my concerns he behaved impeccably and nodded sagely on more than one occasion during John's speech ( even if his resolutely Blairite wife claimed they had gone there "by accident" afterwards) .
Anyway, after a period of relative quiet Booth is at it again in today's Mail On Sunday calling Gordon Brown a "shit" ( excuse the language) and generally badmouthing him. Even more embarrassingly for his ex son-in-law, Booth reveals he took his grandson Euan Blair to the red light district in Amsterdam because he "wanted to see it." Sounds like Euan iks a chip off the old block as anyone who has read TB's memoirs will be aware, his past is more than a little chequered. I have the first edition ( someone gave it to me) in which he talks in rather graphic detail about his "crumpeteering" days. I'm sure those are now over. But if i were Labour candidate in Todmorden , which Booth's fourth wife is, then I would tell him to keep quiet.

DON'T CHOKE ON YOUR CORNFLAKES.....

I didn't know whather to laugh or cry when I saw Anthony Seldon's piece today on Tony Blair. It's basically a sycophantic justification of why poor Tony needs to be paid £240,000 for a speech - complete with the strapline "A man's got to get by.." It seems Blair's market value is decreasing by the day so obviously he has to profit massively now. Don't read it if you suffer from high blood pressure......
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2208725,00.html

SO FAREWELL THEN TONY.......

Not a day to be ungracious . But nevertheless a day to take stock. Blair's performance today at PMQs was typical in its panache. What a performer the man has been.

But its "highlights " also served as a reminder why this most seductive of politicians has also been one of the most dangerous in modern times. A bit like Kaa, the hypnotic snake in the Jungle Book.

At one point, Blair expressed "solidarity" with the workers at Longbridge who had lost their jobs. Almost fell off my chair. The point was, of course, that it was an opportunity to get a cheap laugh from his fellow MPs out of waving his P45. Hilarious......

As we know, unlike most of the car workers who lost their jobs, TB is going to an extremely lucrative job as Middle East peace envoy complete with high life, security guards, limos and other trappings of high office .I wish him well and hope he can achieve as much there as he has done in Northern Ireland. For his family, today's resignation will probably come as a blessed relief from the horrors of being in the public eye. But let's not forget that For the people of Iraq and Afghanistan, the nightmare continues due to Blair's wretched foreign policy mistakes. And, as he also said today, he won't "and never will" apologise for that.

NO, I'M NOT A BLAIR BABE!

A man called Joseph posts on our local website. He won't be voting Labour as he wants to give Blair "a kicking." Blair is "my man", he says, because I'm in the Labour Party. I am known locally for campaigning on national issues So he won't be voting Labour. Even though he acknowledges I am anti-war and anti-Blair .The logic of which mostly escapes me.But I have to note where he is coming from.

Four years ago, three years ago, two years ago, one year ago. Blair was the major problem. Unfortunately, despite his announcement on the news last night that a departure date is due next week, it seems he still is for many people. Despite the fact he won't even be in the GOVERNMENT in a few weeks ( and expect a by-election soon in Sedgefield).People have simply had enough - and they want to protest. It's illogical, unfair, unjust. And very tough on all the thousands of candidates up and down the country. Well, I've done my best to answer this guy's points. Am just off out to deliver last leaflets.

Tomorrow night, will be working in my home town of Manchester where, actually, the "Blair kicking" era is now largely over. I expect a friend of mine (Kath Fry, good left-winger) to re-gain her council seat in Whalley Range. How did they do it? Largely by re-branding themselves "Manchester Labour" and distancing from national policy. To be fair, Manchester has also benefitted hugely from central government funding. The city council has a great track-record , which helps......I won't know the actual results round here till Friday, which is when West Yorkshire in its bizarre wisdom holds the count. Lots of BNP candidates. Hope the news isn't too bad. At the last count (picture above with local MP Chris McCafferty) our local The Fox And Goose had record takings. Let's hope against hope that this year it's for the right reasons.

LEADERSHIP RACE IS ON - LET'S GO FOR IT!

Interesting times, indeed. Today, www.politicalbetting.com forecasts a leadership contest is on the cards. Veteran Mirror columnist Paul Routledge, who wrote Brown's biography and was a huge fan of Gordon when I spoke to him at Conference some years ago, now publicly backs John McDonnell. Even our local website has a post from the webmaster, who attended Friday's meeting. Nice plug Chris and thanks for link. Please re-join Labour! Now Blair's departure date has been leaked (May 5) we really have to pull out the stops. As Mike Wood MP said the other night, "even if we d¬on't win we'll make their eyes water!