Tony Blair: Never say goodbye

It is hard not to be amazed by Tony Blair: having lost all support from his nation and his party members long ago the British Prime Minister continues not only to maintain political power but also to evoke rounds of applause. Last time this happened at the Labor party conference in Manchester, where Mr. Blair, who is without a doubt one of the most outstanding politicians and showmen of our time, once again managed not to tell anyone when he is planning on fulfilling the promise to abandon his high post.

Photo: Tony Blair: Never say goodbye

Let us not forget that during the Manchester conference Blair spoke as Labor Party leader and it is interesting to note in his final speech several program moments carefully masked in the flood of words, images and metaphors, which ended in a 7-minute-appluase. One needs not to be a great expert in order to notice the similarity of party programs among the developed democratic nations. Blair being a professional politician, or rather an active agent obsessed with the desire to obtain as much mower as possible and to maintain it as long necessary, pointed out to his party members what should be the nation’s focus in the months prior to the elections.

Apparently according to Blair modern-day voters of the “Google” generation should pay much more attention to the global questions rather than to the domestic issues. However, the tactic of uniting one’s nation for a common fight against an external enemy was invented long before the time of Blair, who in any case managed to successfully switch the subject from the external policies of his administration to the issues of ecology and environment protection.

Of course no one suspected that the Manchester meeting would involve any serious debates. However, questions should have been expected from the session’s delegates who were deeply touched by the Prime Minister’s speech. For example, how could his current foreign policy which is obviously in support of the Bush administration’s course be made more appealing for the electing public? Or how to convince that same American administration to accept the Kyoto protocol, which has been named the cornerstone of the international ecological efforts? Nonetheless the Labor Party conference in Manchester turned out to be yet another empty show so typical for modern politics.

So what goal did Mr. Blair determine to be instrumental for the Laborites after his departure, which everyone talks about but no one has yet seen a sign of? To improve the social conditions for the working class, which for decades has been the main goal for the social democrats of Great Britain ? To help their nation to become strong and competitive?

Obviously one of the most successful professional politicians in Britain ’s history was talking about something else: the most important thing is to win in the upcoming elections no matter what. Who would lead the Laborites to this victory according to Blair when he himself finally succeeds in resigning remains unclear. Some believe that Blair would like to see Home Secretary John Reed take his place, but it is also known that the Finance Minister Gordon Brown has been awaiting his shining moment with most of the party’s support ever since he lost the power to Blair 12 years ago.

The relationship between Brown and the Prime Minister has suffered a great deal lately. However even this fact Blair managed to turn into an entertaining point for the public at the conference. “At least I can be sure that my wife will not run off with my neighbor,” came-up with a joke Blair, hinting at the fact that the neighboring apartments on Downing Street belong to Brown. As for the potential resignation date of the Minister, it appears that even Nostradamus would not risk trying to predict it. At least the leader himself promised to regulate the problems in the Middle East before his time is up. “That is clearly not a two-week task,” the media jokes in response.

Politcom.ru

Translated by Natalia Vysotskaya
Pravda.ru