Blair set to quit as Prime Minister

 

Tony Blair will announce on Thursday that he is standing down as Labour leader after a decade in Downing Street, paving the way for Gordon Brown to succeed him as Prime Minister.

 

Mr Blair will first tell Cabinet colleagues of his intentions at their regular 9am Thursday meeting at No 10, then travel to his Sedgefield, Co Durham, constituency to make a public pronouncement.

 

The Prime Minister's official spokesman ended weeks of speculation by saying: "There will be a Cabinet tomorrow morning at 9 o'clock. I don't think that will be quite as long as usual. The Prime Minister will then go elsewhere to make an announcement and that will be all that happens.

 

"There will be nothing said in Downing Street."

 

Mr Blair remains as Labour leader until his successor is formally elected at a special party conference, and as Prime Minister until he hands in his seals of office to the Queen.

 

Labour's National Executive Committee will meet within 72 hours of Thursday's confirmation to draw up a detailed timetable for an election to replace both Mr Blair and his deputy John Prescott, who has already announced he will quit at the same time as the Prime Minister.

 

The whole election process will take about seven weeks, meaning Mr Brown - if he is elected - will take office some time in early July. He is likely to face only a token left-wing challenge from either backbencher John McDonnell or former minister Michael Meacher.

 

The two will announce on Thursday which of them is to try to stand against the Chancellor.

 

Downing Street insisted on Wednesday that the Prime Minister would not be a "lame duck" leader while his successor is being elected.

 

But Tory leader David Cameron mocked his administration as "a Government of the living dead" during a rowdy Prime Minister's Question Time in the Commons.

 

A great day for Britain :D :cheer:

 

Goodbye and good riddance to the murdering scumbag

 

May he spend the rest of his life having nightmares about the Iraqi women and children he slaughtered in shock and awe

Personally, I regard him as a saint compared to Margaret Thatcher.

 

 

Personally, I regard him as a saint compared to Margaret Thatcher.

 

 

lol... i agree tbh, although things went pretty much downhill in recent years people are all to easy to forget the better things he oversaw... massive spending in education, abolishion of hunting with hounds, minimum wage, stable economy, lowest mortgage rates for 40 years, peace in northern ireland... our society is better off then it was ten years ago..

 

i expect brown to be a pretty good pm, hes a political heavyweight who i think will steer his own ship.

Which one's Gordon Brown? :unsure:

Which one's Gordon Brown? :unsure:

 

 

Blair's next door neighbour :lol:

lol... i agree tbh, although things went pretty much downhill in recent years people are all to easy to forget the better things he oversaw... massive spending in education, abolishion of hunting with hounds, minimum wage, stable economy, lowest mortgage rates for 40 years, peace in northern ireland... our society is better off then it was ten years ago..

 

i expect brown to be a pretty good pm, hes a political heavyweight who i think will steer his own ship.

 

Sorry mate but the proof of the pudding is in the eating and under this regime I am currently paying over 2k more a year in tax than I was under Major, even allowing for inflation that is a hell of an increase in the lifetime of Blair's regime and that does not include stuff like increased petrol prices and so on

Sorry mate but the proof of the pudding is in the eating and under this regime I am currently paying over 2k more a year in tax than I was under Major, even allowing for inflation that is a hell of an increase in the lifetime of Blair's regime and that does not include stuff like increased petrol prices and so on

 

dunno how you make that out... 2k?.. wtf are you on then?.. labour REDUCED income tax and even stealth taxes are on par to thatchers... oh yeah, under her the stealth tax was born! and as my very modest mortgage repayment is even now £80 less per month then under major. nah, im much better off.

if you're honestly, truly £2k worse off under Blair than the fascists you voted for... then that's awful news.

 

Awful because if you've lost £2k, you must be on an obscenely high wage, and can surely afford MORE money into the coffers. £2k in 10 years? Sounds like pretty good inflation to me.

 

And at least you still HAVE a job. I seem to remember you coming over all high and mighty and dead AGAINST the miners who fought for THEIR jobs against your Nazi regime. Economically correct, I seem to remember.....

 

Think yourself lucky to still be free walking the streets after voting for Thatcher.... after World War 2, remember, all Nazi supporters were rounded up and jailed. Or even faced a firing squad.

 

I'd have been quite happy for the Tory Nazis to have been rounded up after Thatcher was deposed. And sorry, Vic, but yourself included, as you've shown not a shred of remorse for the terrible, terrible things that bast*rd inflicted on Britain.

if you're honestly, truly £2k worse off under Blair than the fascists you voted for... then that's awful news.

 

Awful because if you've lost £2k, you must be on an obscenely high wage, and can surely afford MORE money into the coffers. £2k in 10 years? Sounds like pretty good inflation to me.

 

And at least you still HAVE a job. I seem to remember you coming over all high and mighty and dead AGAINST the miners who fought for THEIR jobs against your Nazi regime. Economically correct, I seem to remember.....

 

Think yourself lucky to still be free walking the streets after voting for Thatcher.... after World War 2, remember, all Nazi supporters were rounded up and jailed. Or even faced a firing squad.

 

I'd have been quite happy for the Tory Nazis to have been rounded up after Thatcher was deposed. And sorry, Vic, but yourself included, as you've shown not a shred of remorse for the terrible, terrible things that bast*rd inflicted on Britain.

 

 

he he... dunno how he cn be on an obscenely high wage, hes on here all day! :P

he he... dunno how he cn be on an obscenely high wage, hes on here all day! :P

 

I am a freelance Company Secretary of 2 companies and manage the legal and financial affairs for them so am able to do that from home hence the net access ;) I would hardly say that I spend all day on here though I have hardly posted in the last 2 months lol

 

 

Edited May 10, 200718 yr by Vic Vega

if you're honestly, truly £2k worse off under Blair than the fascists you voted for... then that's awful news.

 

Awful because if you've lost £2k, you must be on an obscenely high wage, and can surely afford MORE money into the coffers. £2k in 10 years? Sounds like pretty good inflation to me.

 

And at least you still HAVE a job. I seem to remember you coming over all high and mighty and dead AGAINST the miners who fought for THEIR jobs against your Nazi regime. Economically correct, I seem to remember.....

 

Think yourself lucky to still be free walking the streets after voting for Thatcher.... after World War 2, remember, all Nazi supporters were rounded up and jailed. Or even faced a firing squad.

 

I'd have been quite happy for the Tory Nazis to have been rounded up after Thatcher was deposed. And sorry, Vic, but yourself included, as you've shown not a shred of remorse for the terrible, terrible things that bast*rd inflicted on Britain.

 

The coal industry was unproductive Russ and not commercially viable, you can't just have people in jobs for the sake of it, the coal industry was losing money hand over fist, British companies were importing coal in from Eastern Europe because it was cheaper than using British coal, the miners helped bring Britain to a standstill under previous regimes prior to Maggie too and thought they could hold Britain to ransom, Maggie called their bluff and proved them wrong.

 

If a company is continually losing obscene amounts of money something had to be done and you can't continually throw TAXPAYERS money at the problem. Job losses are sad but Ian McGregor had to halt the slide and UK coal mining was just not viable so loss making pits had to go.

 

Anyways the miners were given the opportunity to buy their own pits, remember the Nottinghamshire miners who bought their own pits ? some of those became profitable under them so the miners that lost their jobs were given the chance to buy their own pits, why didn't they all do it if the coal industry was so successful ?

 

Maggie created enterprise zones in areas where pits closed to encourage foreign investment in these regions and offering huge tax breaks, Sony set up a HUGE factory in South Wales for instance that would never have happened but for Maggie declaring the area an enterprise zone and offering huge tax breaks to Sony. Many other companies built HQ's in South Wales too because of Maggie so miners had the chance to be employed in these regions etc

 

Your idea of just propping up lame duck industries with taxpayers money just to keep people in jobs is fine in communist nations but in the strongest economy in Europe (Maggie made Britain the 4th best economy in the world according to the IMF) it is just pie in the sky

 

And to keep referring to her as a fascist is absolutely absurd :manson: do fascist regimes have free and fair elections ? do fascist regimes allow other political parties ? do fascist regimes allow a free media and freedom of speech ? I do not recall labour politicians being rounded up by the police and arrested, I do not recall the media being banned and censored, I do not recall elections being cancelled, I could go on....

Edited May 10, 200718 yr by Vic Vega

And to keep referring to her as a fascist is absolutely absurd :manson: do fascist regimes have free and fair elections ? do fascist regimes allow other political parties ? do fascist regimes allow a free media and freedom of speech ? I do not recall labour politicians being rounded up by the police and arrested, I do not recall the media being banned and censored, I do not recall elections being cancelled, I could go on....

 

I'll answer these points first as I'm busy this morning....

 

Fascist regimes having free and fair elections... err.. I don't think so. Read here http://www.sovereignty.org.uk/features/demow/postal3.html

 

Fascist regimes allowing free speeche and free media.

 

Free speech? Err.. where do I start? Section 28 banned teachers even SPEAKING about homosexuality with pupils. Yes, you heard right... if a kid was mixed up, needed someone to speak to (80% of gay kids tell a teacher first - I did myself)... the teacher was PROHIBITED discussing this with the pupil in question. Free speech? Under Thatcher's fascistic Section 28, advertising of gay bars, clubs, theatre productions, events - ALL banned. Call that free? Really? You can't pick and choose bits you like or dislike, Vic - the facts are facts - and you VOTED for these decisions - again and again.

 

Free press? With regards to the above - NOTHING was reported about the REAL impact of Section 28 - Thatcher's iron-fist controlled media told the public Section 28 banned kids being TAUGHT about homosexuality in schools - as if homosexuality was EVER 'taught' in schools. Just to drum up middle-England parent support - which it did rather well. Thatcher TOLD her media to LIE about Section 28. Thatcher's media - they did as they were instructed.

 

Free media? The Miner's Strike of which you're so sickeningly dismissive... I don't ever recall seeing newspaper reportsd showing miners ripped to bits by police dogs which had been set on them. I witnessed this myself on numerous occasions.... if a miner refused to stop carrying a banner/shouting... the police set the dogs on them, simple as that. I don't recall seeing people battered unconscious, battered beyond recognition by police brutality in the media, do you? However, the ACTUAL events at these miner's protests were TOTALLY different to the garbage transmitted on the news that evening - I marched on many, many of the pickets and I can assure you - what the public saw WAS NOT what was happening. Remember 'Thatcher's Army'? The army dressing up as police to swell the numbers - is THAT what 'our boys' join up to do? A cousin of mine LEFT his career in the armed forces over this very issue because his father and brothers were miners. Did you see this fact reported by our 'free media'? Hmm... thought not, me either. And Thatcher OWNED the press during her dictatorship - and you know it.

 

Vic - it may pain you to accept the fact - but you fully, wholeheartedly supported a fascist regime in the 1980s. I can fully understand your shame - but it doesn't go away by shrugging it off and denying it as it was. You may care to forget - some, however, will NEVER forget what you and your fellow far right fascists did to this country in the early 80s.

Lets hope Labour dont win another election, as the past three they have won, later in the year they won something bad has happend. I was watching this on this morning and, in May 1997 blair won power for labour, in the august, princess diana was killed in a car crash, in may 2001 he kept power in the september 9/11 happend. And then in 2005 blair won power again and in the July, were the 7/7 bombings on London

Hmmm, strong views here. As I am in my early 30s, I was not politically aware when thatcher was in power. I do have strong views on Section 28, and I agree with Russ over those points.

 

From my point of view, Iraq aside, Blair's lack of interest in home issues of late aside, he has been a pretty strong PM and a decent statesman.

 

Feel free to rip me apart, but thats my opinion :lol:

I'll answer these points first as I'm busy this morning....

 

Fascist regimes having free and fair elections... err.. I don't think so. Read here http://www.sovereignty.org.uk/features/demow/postal3.html

 

Fascist regimes allowing free speeche and free media.

 

Free speech? Err.. where do I start? Section 28 banned teachers even SPEAKING about homosexuality with pupils. Yes, you heard right... if a kid was mixed up, needed someone to speak to (80% of gay kids tell a teacher first - I did myself)... the teacher was PROHIBITED discussing this with the pupil in question. Free speech? Under Thatcher's fascistic Section 28, advertising of gay bars, clubs, theatre productions, events - ALL banned. Call that free? Really? You can't pick and choose bits you like or dislike, Vic - the facts are facts - and you VOTED for these decisions - again and again.

 

Free press? With regards to the above - NOTHING was reported about the REAL impact of Section 28 - Thatcher's iron-fist controlled media told the public Section 28 banned kids being TAUGHT about homosexuality in schools - as if homosexuality was EVER 'taught' in schools. Just to drum up middle-England parent support - which it did rather well. Thatcher TOLD her media to LIE about Section 28. Thatcher's media - they did as they were instructed.

 

Free media? The Miner's Strike of which you're so sickeningly dismissive... I don't ever recall seeing newspaper reportsd showing miners ripped to bits by police dogs which had been set on them. I witnessed this myself on numerous occasions.... if a miner refused to stop carrying a banner/shouting... the police set the dogs on them, simple as that. I don't recall seeing people battered unconscious, battered beyond recognition by police brutality in the media, do you? However, the ACTUAL events at these miner's protests were TOTALLY different to the garbage transmitted on the news that evening - I marched on many, many of the pickets and I can assure you - what the public saw WAS NOT what was happening. Remember 'Thatcher's Army'? The army dressing up as police to swell the numbers - is THAT what 'our boys' join up to do? A cousin of mine LEFT his career in the armed forces over this very issue because his father and brothers were miners. Did you see this fact reported by our 'free media'? Hmm... thought not, me either. And Thatcher OWNED the press during her dictatorship - and you know it.

 

Vic - it may pain you to accept the fact - but you fully, wholeheartedly supported a fascist regime in the 1980s. I can fully understand your shame - but it doesn't go away by shrugging it off and denying it as it was. You may care to forget - some, however, will NEVER forget what you and your fellow far right fascists did to this country in the early 80s.

 

I am not going to defend Section 28 Russ but with regards to the miners strike...

 

You say that you were on these picket lines and so on but why ? you were not a miner were you ? if you weren't then you had no business being there if you were a miner then I apologise, while I am not accusing you of wrong doing the fact is that while the miners were on the whole peaceful protesters the whole miners cause was hijacked by "rent a mob's", marxist and communist political agitators, Socialist Worker readers, people from many many miles away who just wanted a ruck with the police and so on, while the miners were peaceful by and large the hangers on by and large were violent troublemakers who just wanted a fight so of course the police are going to respond when they are attacked, I have no doubt that your intentions were honourable Russ and that you never attacked police but you were in a minority when it came to non miners.

 

I compare the miners strike violence with the poll tax riots, again an honourable cause was hijacked by violent rent a mob's who had probably never even heard of the poll tax and who just wanted to have a ruck with police

Edited May 10, 200718 yr by Vic Vega

I am not going to defend Section 28 Russ but with regards to the miners strike...

 

You say that you were on these picket lines and so on but why ? you were not a miner were you ? if you weren't then you had no business being there if you were a miner then I apologise, while I am not accusing you of wrong doing the fact is that while the miners were on the whole peaceful protesters the whole miners cause was hijacked by "rent a mob's", marxist and communist political agitators, Socialist Worker readers, people from many many miles away who just wanted a ruck with the police and so on, while the miners were peaceful by and large the hangers on by and large were violent troublemakers who just wanted a fight so of course the police are going to respond when they are attacked, I have no doubt that your intentions were honourable Russ and that you never attacked police but you were in a minority when it came to non miners.

 

I compare the miners strike violence with the poll tax riots, again an honourable cause was hijacked by violent rent a mob's who had probably never even heard of the poll tax and who just wanted to have a ruck with police

 

Rubbish... The Miner's Strike was a broader Working Class revolt against Thatcherism, Scargill certainly had no bones about broadening the struggle... Thatcher's motives for destroying the coal industry were purely political, she wanted to break the backs of the Working Classes and the Unions, so fighting fire with fire was entirely appropriate.... And if you honestly believe that you had to be a miner to support the cause, then frankly you're talking out your arse mate, I suppose next you'll be saying that white people had no right to support Martin Luther King's Civil Rights Movement in the 50s and 60s.... And I kinda do think the rioters knew what the Poll Tax was mate.... The facts are, Peaceful means did not get rid of it, whereas one riot in London saw not only an end to the Poll Tax, but the beginning of the end of Thatcherism full stop.... Well done the rioters on the day.... :cheer: :cheer: My only regret is that I wasn't part of it....

 

And Russ is quite correct, the Thatcher regime was incredibly fascistic in its ideologies if not its actual method, Clause 28 in itself proves that....

Rubbish... The Miner's Strike was a broader Working Class revolt against Thatcherism, Scargill certainly had no bones about broadening the struggle... Thatcher's motives for destroying the coal industry were purely political, she wanted to break the backs of the Working Classes and the Unions, so fighting fire with fire was entirely appropriate.... And if you honestly believe that you had to be a miner to support the cause, then frankly you're talking out your arse mate, I suppose next you'll be saying that white people had no right to support Martin Luther King's Civil Rights Movement in the 50s and 60s.... And I kinda do think the rioters knew what the Poll Tax was mate.... The facts are, Peaceful means did not get rid of it, whereas one riot in London saw not only an end to the Poll Tax, but the beginning of the end of Thatcherism full stop.... Well done the rioters on the day.... :cheer: :cheer: My only regret is that I wasn't part of it....

 

And Russ is quite correct, the Thatcher regime was incredibly fascistic in its ideologies if not its actual method, Clause 28 in itself proves that....

 

Ian McGregor was solely responsible for the mine closures, he was a hugely successful global businessman who had turned many companies around, he was hired from Canada to compile a report on the coal industry and then given a free reign to take any measures he saw fit which he did, Maggie did not interfere, if McGregor decided a pit had to go then he was responsible for its closure, all Maggie did was provide security and protection for McGregor and protection for workers who wanted to carry on working "scabs" as Scargill used to call them. Not all miners were in favour of industrial action only the NUM and even that was not democratic it was a vehicle for Scargill to try and bring down Thatcher like he did previous regimes, another miners union the name of which I can't remember carried on working and supported McGregor.

 

Maggie did not destroy the Unions in Britain she merely made them more democratic and accountable to their members and meaning majorities of members had to support strike action which is fair, she could have banned unions if she had so wanted to but she didn't she merely made them more accountable to their members.

 

As for the working classes if she had wanted to smash the working classes : she could have abolished the NHS, could have massively slashed state benefits (NHS funding was above the rate of inflation for every year she was in power and no state benefits were cut), she also bought in the ability for council house tenants to purchase their own homes, introduced the enterprise culture where people of ALL classes were given assistance to start their own businesses out of which many working class people did, bought about privatisation which meant again people of ALL classes became share owners (share ownership was considered a thing for men in pinstripe suits with brollies and bowler hats till Maggie but she introduced share ownership for all)

 

I agree Section 28 was vile and I will not defend that but I still think she gave the working class the chance to live middle class lifestyles

Ian McGregor was solely responsible for the mine closures, he was a hugely successful global businessman who had turned many companies around, he was hired from Canada to compile a report on the coal industry and then given a free reign to take any measures he saw fit which he did, Maggie did not interfere, if McGregor decided a pit had to go then he was responsible for its closure, all Maggie did was provide security and protection for McGregor and protection for workers who wanted to carry on working "scabs" as Scargill used to call them. Not all miners were in favour of industrial action only the NUM and even that was not democratic it was a vehicle for Scargill to try and bring down Thatcher like he did previous regimes, another miners union the name of which I can't remember carried on working and supported McGregor.

 

Semantics.... McGregor was Maggie's man all the way, she drafted him in, at taxpayers expense I might add, and told her what she wanted to hear, he gave her a convienient 'get out' clause that only the most stupid "Scum"-readers bought into - "oh, it's not really Maggie's fault, it's this McGregor bloke....". Bullsh!t...! Doesn't wash with me.. You think just because she does a Pontious Pilate and "washes her hands" of it, it actually means she should get out of the responsibility...? Got himself a nice Knighthood out of it as well.... Yeah, cos destroying an industry and tens of thousands of people's lives should really be rewarded shouldn't it... <_< The "scabs" were all lied to at the end of the day, exploited by the Capitalist system, deluding themselves into actually believing that they were doing the right thing, most of them were cast aside with the rest of their co-workers - some great reward, huh..? The vast majority of them totally regret breaking the strike and wish they had backed Scargill in hindsight.... They gained nothing from it except for the hatred of their fellow workers, the scars still run deep to this day... Thatcher and McGregor destroyed people's lives, some even committed suicide - that blood is on their hands mate, simple as....

 

I am not going to defend Section 28 Russ but with regards to the miners strike...

 

You say that you were on these picket lines and so on but why ? you were not a miner were you ? if you weren't then you had no business being there if you were a miner then I apologise, while I am not accusing you of wrong doing the fact is that while the miners were on the whole peaceful protesters the whole miners cause was hijacked by "rent a mob's", marxist and communist political agitators, Socialist Worker readers, people from many many miles away who just wanted a ruck with the police and so on, while the miners were peaceful by and large the hangers on by and large were violent troublemakers who just wanted a fight so of course the police are going to respond when they are attacked, I have no doubt that your intentions were honourable Russ and that you never attacked police but you were in a minority when it came to non miners.

 

I compare the miners strike violence with the poll tax riots, again an honourable cause was hijacked by violent rent a mob's who had probably never even heard of the poll tax and who just wanted to have a ruck with police

 

 

I was on thoise marches because every single male member of my family bar my father worked in the mining industry in an area that had NO OTHER EMPLOYMENT. Nothing. Because all around me were families totally broken by this strike, but who refused to back down because what they were doing was right - was for the future of them and their families. You, from your priveliged comfort of your English home, can balk at this - can look down your fascist nose at these people - but you know what? What these people were doing was wholly right - and remember, love or loathe Scargill - at least he told the truth about Thatcher's intentions regarding the pits - didn't he?

 

I was born and brought up in a place called Maerdy - the last pit in the Rhondda. Closing this mine wouldn't only be closing a business - it was closing the whole AREA.

 

I remember soup kitchens - yes, really - for the families who had nothing, who were homeless, who were starving. Yes, that's true - in 1984, too.

 

I was on those marches, as many as I possibly could, because what the minmers were fighting for was RIGHT.

 

Because what Thatcher and her henchmenwere saying wass LIES, Vic.

 

The mining industry was NOT losing money - don't believe the hype, and whilst the miners who did plought their meagre redundancy money into buying back their pits was a great idea (it happened in Merthyr and the pit is massively profitable), unfortunately, mmost of the men losing their livelihoods were married with families and mortgages. They had gone without for over a year, many lost their homes, their families - everything, Vic. And asll because Thatcher wanted to give them a bloody nose and teach those scummy working classes a lesson. Not because of financial reasons at all - and you know it.

 

And as for any pickets being hijacked by lefties - balderdash. The pickets were hijacked by police who DELIBERATELY ensured working and non-working miners would meet and clash. I remember Yorkshire where one of the biggest news stories centred with miners fighting and apparent all-out war breaking out. You know why that REALLY happened? The police DELIBERATELY closed the only other road working miners could use to get to work. The only other road was where the pickets were. Of course the police KNEW there'd be trouble - they even invited the news crews to the scene to witness it - up until the shift was due to start and the working miners would be starting work - no news crews were anywhere in sight. Strange how they suddenly arrived from nowhere, don't you think? I witnessed this myself - and also witnessed the police showing off their overtime wage slips to the striking miners. Not once - this happened on virtually EVERY march I went on - it was a ploy, with directions from the top, to antagonise as much as humanly possible.

 

These 'Socialist Workers' shipped in from miles away to cause rucks? Rubbish - the coaches taking people to these marches contained miners from all over the country - and their supporters.

 

Vic - I was there, mate, I saw what happened with my own eyes - I think you read The Sun and watched the BBC news a bit more than attending actual marches.