Tony Blair to announce on May 10th (when he is leaving) "Another delay!!" Typical...

[nodisharmony]

This serious and political debate on when Tony Blair is going to stand down has been leaked exclusively to the Daily Mirror

How is the country going to manage without him?

Does anybody have some special words to say about his ten years in power? Do you like or loath the man?

This is the big one and the Daily Mirror says it all:-

Link & Article below:-

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/tm_headline=blair-to-quit-on-may-10%26method=full%26objectid=18979239%26siteid=8952 0-name_page.html

BLAIR TO QUIT ON MAY 10
EXCLUSIVE: Finally.. we reveal the day when Blair will say I'm leaving Downing St
By Rosa Prince Political Correspondent 28/04/2007
TONY Blair will announce he is standing down on May 10, the Mirror has been told.

Senior sources say the Prime Minister has decided on the date after intense discussions with his family, friends and key advisers.

His announcement will trigger a seven-week leadership and deputy leadership campaign.

Mr Blair will stay on until the results are known.

The PM had long been expected to bow out on May 9, when he will return from Belfast having seen the restoration of self-government in Northern Ireland - one of his greatest achievements.

But the Mirror has learned that he will hang on for one more day so he can say an emotional farewell to ministers at the weekly Thursday Cabinet meeting. He will then confirm what he first revealed in September 2004 - he will not see through a fourth term.

Speculation that Mr Blair would go earlier deepened after it was suggested he would stand down on Tuesday - his 10th anniversary in office. His departure would then overshadow the local, Scottish and Welsh elections. But the PM's spokesman said: "The story is wrong."

Mr Blair, asked about it on a trip to Poland, said: "You know I never discuss these issues but I wouldn't hold your breath on that story."

He is planning a low-key celebration of his 10th year as PM, but has written a 22-page dossier of his achievements for his MPs. The PM says Labour has changed the country and proved there can be social justice and economic prosperity at the same time.

Chancellor Gordon Brown is expected to become the next PM. There are six contenders for the deputy's job.

Mr Brown is likely to face just one left-wing contender because Michael Meacher and John McDonnell will reveal this weekend that the candidate with the most supporters will mount a solo bid.

Barring a major political earthquake, Mr Brown will be installed at Number 10 by mid to late July.


nodisharmony :angel:

[Sophii3x]

I actually don't mind Tony Blair. I don't understand why so many people hate him, seems like a decent guy. The war with Iraq was a huge blow for him, but he survived it. I think this country will manage fine without him TBH. And I may not know much about politics, but I think he's done quite a good job at being PM, and 10 years is a long time, so maybe it's best for someone younger and fresher to take over.

[nodisharmony]

Originally posted by Sophii3x
I actually don't mind Tony Blair. I don't understand why so many people hate him, seems like a decent guy. The war with Iraq was a huge blow for him, but he survived it. I think this country will manage fine without him TBH. And I may not know much about politics, but I think he's done quite a good job at being PM, and 10 years is a long time, so maybe it's best for someone younger and fresher to take over.


Yes, Sophii3x.

A younger and fresher Gordon Brown :sad:



nodisharmony :angel:

[Dr43%er]

Not that i am a tory but but new labour inherited the work that the Tories had done that led to the UK's growth and prosperity and ran with it claiming the credit. 10 years on we as seeing increasing inflation and rising interest to try and cap it, while brown borrows more and taxes the balls off us. Would the others be any better though?

[James]

The man has been absolute disaster. In recent years anyway.

[sol]

About time to lol. I really hope the Conservatives win the general election in 2009 or whenever it is next called.

[GiRTh]

He will not be looked upon as a great Prime Minister. HE had so much promise but he was always too influenced by George W Bush. It cost him. It's going to be interesting to see if he finally collects that award that Dubya has promised him for his part in the Iraq war. I bet he will.

[bananarama]

Originally posted by sol
About time to lol. I really hope the Conservatives win the general election in 2009 or whenever it is next called.


Be careful of what you wish as you might well live to regret it!!!

Not that I am an avid labour supporter but I do remember my days in the civil service during the 18 years of Tory rule. I helped to vote them in and they turned out to be the biggest bunch of political jerks and money wasting reforming idiots ever.. Tony Blair and new Labour simply took up the Tory baton and cotinued with the same type of Tory policy lunacy.. After all Blair's father was and maybe still is a Tory....

New Labour. Nahhhh New Tory is what we got....Now people want the real thing (The Tories again).........Vote for it and I will at some point say I told you so..........

[James]

He led Britain into war on false reasons and now it is a disaster.

All this 'war on terror' malarkey has made this country a target for terrorism when it never was before. He's stoked up people's fear. You can't even take bottled water onto a plane now.

He shouldn't be collecting awards for anything. If he gets a cushy bureaucrat job in Brussels I'll be livid. Send him to Iraq - make him the British ambassador.

[Sunny_01]

I voted for Labour when they 1st came to power with Mr Blair - it was the 1st time I had voted Labour and to be honest I feel let down.

I voted for someone who I thought would be a great leader, would listen to the desires and needs of the people of this country and what we got in reality was a narrow minded dictator. He took us into a war that no-one wanted, he has crippled people financially with regards to their pensions and basically does as he pleases with little regards for us the people of the UK.

I am not sure that any of the other parties can and will do better than he has, but I cant stand the thought that the awful Gordon Brown will rule our wonderful country.

[Mike]

I'm dissapointed at how many illegal immigrants have been allowed to enter the country and sponge off all the tax from our hard workers, i remember when Blair first took over he said he was going to do his best to sort the problem out which credit to him was good to hear but then when he didn't carry his actions out people just had enough, it's not as if he even bothered he just let things get worse over the years, then you get the do-gooders going around sticking up for them. My reason for bringing this up is coming from South East England our town has been taken over, when i say 'taken over' i mean you actually can't even go around some areas because it's so dangerous, their responsible for most of the murders yet end up getting away with it, ask yourself would we get the same treatment in their countries? i'm one hundred percent sure we wouldn't. Don't get me wrong Blair seems like a really nice guy but who else can we blame for what has happend? As for will it-won't it be better without him who knows to be honest.

[Sunny_01]

I understand where you are coming from Mike - I am all for the UK being multi cultural but where and when is the line going to be drawn. The UK is at saturation point. Our NHS can not cope with the amount of extra people it is caring for, our benefits system is at bursting point, housing is a nightmare my daughter who is pregnant and with her partner was not even eligible for council housing, they have had to privately rent. The only empty houses are ones that have to be set aside for asylum seekers.

[Mike]

Exactly it's a complete shambles, not fair that us hard working people have to suffer for the sake of all these illegals, annoys me that nothing was done years back to at least stop some of them from coming over and ruining the country.

[Sunny_01]

The problem goes way back when! after the war Britain was like "come work here" they opened the doors and forgot to close them sadly.

Many, many asylum seekers are genuine and by that I mean have literally fled persecution, the problem though is for every genuine one there are 5 who come here for the easy life they think they are going to get.

I pay my taxes like everyone else and am agrieved that they are not used in a way that would benefit our country.

[J.C.]

Sadly, war is written across the face of the once youthful looking Blair. In one fleeting moment he blew the lot. France Germany and Russia all said no not yet on Saddam and vetoed Britain and America's plans for war. At that point , and with the success of Bosnia behind him, Blair just went for it. He should have realized that although his intentions were good ,there was still no way things could work out whilst the West ,and more specifically the security council , was so divided. However I am not A Gordon Brown fan so the whole thing for me is just one big mess. I , like one or two others around here have never voted, its just a little beyond the reasonable for me. lol

[sol]

I agree Mike. Admittedly, it's not as bad in the South-West but in 10 years time I will probably be saying the same thing as you.
I hope David Cameron has some good immigration policies up his sleeve, and I hope he sticks to them if he is elected.

[Captain.Remy]

I just don't know if you have watched him, speaking french on french national tv, congratulating the new President, it's so funny !!! :spin2: Blair is quite funny ! lol But at all, what I think about him is that, he's a great man who did a lot of things for England. That's all, after I don't know exactly what happened in England.

[Edwin]

Originally posted by Mike
Exactly it's a complete shambles, not fair that us hard working people have to suffer for the sake of all these illegals, annoys me that nothing was done years back to at least stop some of them from coming over and ruining the country.

It's not just the illegal immigrants who are sponging off the tax payer, what about the tonnes and tonnes of British people on benefits, or men who can't put a condom on when they shag a woman and then the woman ends up with a kid she can't look after very well. They get benefits too. Please take your nose out of the Daily Mail and realise it's not just the illegal immigrants. Many of them have been promised streets paved with gold when they come here, and then they end up picking cockles and drowning in the sea a la Morecambe Bay.

I'm not sure about my stance on this "War on Terror" after all, Saddame did claim he had "Weapons of Mass Destruction" and something had to be done. Even though this later turned out to be false, imagine if he had dropped a nuke on an American city or something. However, they should of just had him assasinated and then pissed off out of Iraq, but that would of been illegal. Our troops and America's can't leave Iraq now, if they let Al Qaeda rule then we'll be in even more trouble. There is no solution really. I'm ill-informed on the subject.

What annoys me about the government today is that they're too scared of the press, they're too scared of spending any money, unless it's votes-grabbing of course. Loads of money is being pumped into the NHS only to be given to GPs and consultants who just sit on their arse all day, what about the nurses who put up with crap from nutters on a daily bases?

Anyhoo... I hope Gordon Brown is better than Blair, but of course since he doesn't have the right "image" it will never be so. Since when was politics more about "image" rather than politics?

[Edwin]

What I find funny is that, America originally trained Osama Bin Laden in how to use weapons, etc to try and resist the Soviet Union taking over Afghanastan, what they didn't ever manage to think is that he may turn on them. The American government are the most corrupt on earth, well maybe surpassed by Putin, the thing is, it seems the civilians in the USA and the Middle East who pay the price for their dreadful politics, not them.

[Mike]

Originally posted by Edwin
Originally posted by Mike
Exactly it's a complete shambles, not fair that us hard working people have to suffer for the sake of all these illegals, annoys me that nothing was done years back to at least stop some of them from coming over and ruining the country.

It's not just the illegal immigrants who are sponging off the tax payer, what about the tonnes and tonnes of British people on benefits, or men who can't put a condom on when they s**g a woman and then the woman ends up with a kid she can't look after very well. They get benefits too. Please take your nose out of the Daily Mail and realise it's not just the illegal immigrants. Many of them have been promised streets paved with gold when they come here, and then they end up picking cockles and drowning in the sea a la Morecambe Bay.


Your right it's not just the illegal immigrants but the thing is the 'tonnes of British' people you are refering to were born and bred here therefore as much as we like it have the right to be here, on the other hand the illegals have NO RIGHT whatsoever, just because they have fled their countries for whatever reasons why do we have to house them, feed them etc? don't get me wrong the British who 'sponge' off tax payers are just as bad but what can we do. As for the daily mail that comment obviously doesn't mean anything to me because i don't bother with reading papers.

[Ruth]

Originally posted by Edwin
What I find funny is that, America originally trained Osama Bin Laden in how to use weapons, etc to try and resist the Soviet Union taking over Afghanastan, what they didn't ever manage to think is that he may turn on them. The American government are the most corrupt on earth, well maybe surpassed by Putin, the thing is, it seems the civilians in the USA and the Middle East who pay the price for their dreadful politics, not them.

True. The US were happy enough to help Bin Laden when they thought that it would be beneficial to them.

[nodisharmony]

Originally posted by Mike
Exactly it's a complete shambles, not fair that us hard working people have to suffer for the sake of all these illegals, annoys me that nothing was done years back to at least stop some of them from coming over and ruining the country.

The same can be said for Gordon Brown really. If he takes over from Tony Blair, which looks very likely, then he shall follow in his footsteps and tell us all how he intends to make a better Great Britain.

Rubbish!!!! and I certainly don't use that word lightly:sad:




nodisharmony :angel:

[Mike]

I know mate thats true, all talk before hand then when it comes to it not actually doing anything.

[GiRTh]

I'm stunned by some of the comments on this thread. I'm sorry to say but some of them are bordering on racist. By the way, I think I should point out that I am the son of an immigrant who came to here from Jamaica in 1960.

I think the whole illegal immigrant situation is blown way out of proportion and always have been. Mr's Thatcher came to power in 1979 on the back of a speech she made claiming that this country is being 'swamped' by people from overseas. My father knew that speech off by heart and have you any idea how many times he recited it back to me. Plenty,. Nuff said. It was probably the thing that most made him decide to go back to Jamaica when he retired in 2000.

My point is this, imigration has always been one of the main political campaing issues only each election the poiticiansseem to target a different set of immigrants. i think the tories using it as their main issue at the last election was just plain racist..

I'd focus on something different if I were you because this country is a desirable place to live and will always attract a large number of immigrants. It's something that we have to live with. On the other hand, has any one seen the Sunday times Rich list? Do you see how many of the richest people in this country are not British Lakish Mittall, Roman Abramovich, Sri Hinduja and David Kahlli are all in the top six. IF we're to stop illegal immigrants from entering are we to stop these rich investor too? Do we only let in billionaires and not millionaires.? it's a can of worms.

[nodisharmony]

Originally posted by GiRTh
I'm stunned by some of the comments on this thread. I'm sorry to say but some of them are bordering on racist. By the way, I think I should point out that I am the son of an immigrant who came to here from Jamaica in 1960.

I think the whole illegal immigrant situation is blown way out of proportion and always have been. Mr's Thatcher came to power in 1979 on the back of a speech she made claiming that this country is being 'swamped' by people from overseas. My father knew that speech off by heart and have you any idea how many times he recited it back to me. Plenty,. Nuff said. It was probably the thing that most made him decide to go back to Jamaica when he retired in 2000.

My point is this, imigration has always been one of the main political campaing issues only each election the poiticiansseem to target a different set of immigrants. i think the tories using it as their main issue at the last election was just plain racist..

I'd focus on something different if I were you because this country is a desirable place to live and will always attract a large number of immigrants. It's something that we have to live with. On the other hand, has any one seen the Sunday times Rich list? Do you see how many of the richest people in this country are not British Lakish Mittall, Roman Abramovich, Sri Hinduja and David Kahlli are all in the top six. IF we're to stop illegal immigrants from entering are we to stop these rich investor too? Do we only let in billionaires and not millionaires.? it's a can of worms.


I think that the topic is concerning politics GiRTh.

Politicians make the decisions and the general public will criticise what they choose to criticise.

There is nothing wrong with that. Certainly nothing to be shocked about and this "illegal immigrant" situation is something that the government does tackle, but badly..

Tony Blair is the current prime minister and is held accountable for what goes on.

Gordon Brown, if he get's in? will carry on, where Tony left off.



nodisharmony :angel:

[GiRTh]

My point is that the issue is not as bad a the politicians make out. Plus, many posts have referred to imigration laws. I was merely answering those posts with my expreiences as the son of an immigrant.

Imigration is a vote winner, people want to be proud of their British heritage, but I think the place it takes on some part manifesto's is deplorable.

[James]

I agree with Girth that immigration has often been viewed too negatively and it is very often very beneficial to a country.

There are many instances when mass-immigration has been economically beneficial to a country - like the Turkish immigration to (West) Germany after the Second World War, which was an important part of an economic boom, and what about the USA, which has been built up through people emigrating there.

Also immigration makes the culture richer and more interesting. Choice and variation are always good things to have in anything.

[Mike]

I should have been more specific in my rant about immigrants to be honest. I was talking about the ones that have come over in the last five years or so from like Iran/Kosovo, it might be different in other towns and cities but here it's madness it certain areas, their all walking around with the latest flash gear but do absoloutely nothing and get welcomed into the country, that sort of thing really annoys me as im sure it does many others too.

[nodisharmony]

Originally posted by Mike
I should have been more specific in my rant about immigrants to be honest. I was talking about the ones that have come over in the last five years or so from like Iran/Kosovo, it might be different in other towns and cities but here it's madness it certain areas, their all walking around with the latest flash gear but do absoloutely nothing and get welcomed into the country, that sort of thing really annoys me as Im sure it does many others too.

I think Mike, whatever we don't want the government to do, they will do anyway, whether it is to do with immigrants or not.

Tony Blair and Gordon Brown are just the same to me. Nothing much will change and the Conservatives will always say they could do better.

Neither can do better, it is just politics and money, money and politics.



nodisharmony :angel:

[Dan_]

Tony Blair has announced he will stand down as prime minister on 27 June.

He made the announcement in a speech to party activists in his Sedgefield constituency, after earlier briefing the Cabinet on his plans.

He acknowledged his government had not always lived up to high expectations but said he had been very lucky to lead "the greatest nation on earth".

He will stay on in Downing Street until the Labour Party elects a new leader - widely expected to be Gordon Brown.

In an emotional speech, Mr Blair said he had been prime minister for 10 years which was "long enough" for the country and himself.

Brown tribute

Mr Blair earlier told the Cabinet he did not want ministers paying tribute to him, adding "that can be left for another day".

But as the meeting was breaking up, Mr Brown said he "did not think it would be right to let Cabinet finish without offering thanks to the prime minister".

He praised Mr Blair's "unique achievement over 10 years and the unique leadership he had given to the party, Britain and the world".

His comments were greeted by "much thumping of tables" by Mr Blair's colleagues, the prime minister's official spokesman told reporters.

Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain said it had been a "cordial, comradely" meeting with "quite a lot of laughter" and "leg-pulling".

Mr Hain, who is a candidate for Labour's deputy leadership, said Mr Brown would now "take up Tony Blair's mantle in the next period of our government".

The chancellor later made a joke about Mr Blair's departure plans in the Commons.

Answering a question on employment, he said: "There are of course 600,000 vacancies in the economy as a result of the... actually there's one more today as a result of announcements that have just been made."

'Good years'

Mr Blair's election agent and close friend John Burton said he expected Mr Blair to continue as Sedgefield's MP until the next general election, unless he was offered a major international job.

Former Cabinet minister and Blair ally Alan Milburn said thought the prime minister "slightly regretted pre-announcing his retirement" by saying he would not seek a fourth term.

He's going of his own choice - he's doing it at a time which he thinks is good for the country
Peter Mandelson

"I think he would have preferred to stay longer," added Mr Milburn but he said the prime minister had had "a good 10 years" and had "fundamentally changed the country for the better".

Mr Blair's official spokesman insists he will remain "focused" on being prime minister until Labour has chosen his successor - a process expected to last seven weeks.

He said Mr Blair still has lots of work to do on domestic issues and had a number of international commitments in the run-up to this summer's G8 and EU summits.

But with a new prime minister expected to be in place by the beginning of July, attention at Westminster has already shifted to his succession.

Mr Brown is unlikely to face a Cabinet-level challenge for the leadership as all of the likely contenders have ruled themselves out.

But he could still face a challenge from one of two left wing backbenchers - John McDonnell and Michael Meacher. The pair are meeting later to see if one of them can muster enough support to get on to the ballot paper.

'Paralysis'

Candidates need the signatures of 45 Labour MPs to enter a contest.

Six deputy leadership hopefuls will also be battling for nominations to enter the race to replace John Prescott, who is due to stand down with Mr Blair.

Conservative leader David Cameron has said the country faces seven weeks of "paralysis" until Labour chooses a new leader, accusing Mr Blair of running a government of the "living dead".

The Liberal Democrats have, meanwhile, tabled a Parliamentary motion urging the Queen to dissolve parliament and call a general election.

But European Union Trade Commissioner and close Blair ally, Peter Mandelson, denied that Mr Blair's last weeks in office would be as a lame duck leader.

"'He's going of his own choice. He's doing it at a time which he thinks is good for the country, is good for the government."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6639945.stm

[Ruth]

Originally posted by GiRTh
My point is that the issue is not as bad a the politicians make out. Plus, many posts have referred to imigration laws. I was merely answering those posts with my expreiences as the son of an immigrant.

Imigration is a vote winner, people want to be proud of their British heritage, but I think the place it takes on some part manifesto's is deplorable.

True. Immigration is actually a very positive thing in many ways.

People often get three separate issues mixed up, these being immigration, illegal immigration and asylum seekers. The political parties play it to suit themselves, because they know what will hit home with certain pockets of voters.

I remember having an argument about it with someone I used to work with. They were completely against immigration, yet they themselves wanted to retire to Spain.

[Bells]

I'm not bothered that Gordon Brown is replacing Tony Blair personally, I just think it's about time he resigned. Although the delaying has been getting annoying, a lot of unanswered questions were presented on Sky News to Gordon Brown live today (which I watched), and I think he answered them well. I'm not going to go into too much detail about it, but they focused mainly on how he felt becoming Prime Minister without having had to go through a general election, the UK's relationship with different countries, discussions on climate changes, etc.

It made interesting viewing and I think it will be difficult to go through all the changes any Prime Minister promises, but I really hope that although we're still sticking to the Labour Party, the same mistakes are not made. Probably wishful thinking on my part.