New Labour - New Sleaze?

[livk]

The amount of sleaze that Tony Blair has presided over with his cabinet ministers continues to rise. He and his own family have also come under the microscope. As he seems unable to take hard decisions (such as sacking those involved in sleaze immediately) and shows poor errors of judgement in bringing them back into high level politics (Mandelson / Blunkett), does anyone think he may have to jump ship this time himself, as his own personal dealings with Berlusconi are now being examined as well as the Mr Mills / Jowells.

[madein1978]

I hate Tony Blair with all my heart, he came in 1997 with this bold new party which was going to eradicate sleaze and corrupt politicians, 9 years later he has a party that has had more scandals and sleaze and corruption than the Tories had before them. I think he should have jumped ship a long time ago, but politicians like Tony Blair have no morals or integrity, in the past if a politician did something that was seriously wrong or against the people that empowered them, then they would resign, not this lot, oh no, they face it out, defiant to the last and even after everything that has gone on, most of the labour party that was in 1997 is still there, only David Blunkett had the humility and sense of propriety to resign after his scandal, granted he came back, but he left again when his scandal came back to haunt him. I cant see the likes of Mandelson or Hoon doing that, they are too arrogant, they seem to think they are invincible.

[bernardo]

I hope so. He seems to be losing touch with reality, because he has got to the point where he no longer cares much about losing votes in the House of Commons, and is not willing to make the necessary compromises. He seems to be genuinely believing his own propaganda about the "need" for new draconian authoritarian legislation simply to look tough, rather than to make us feel safer.

[reddread]

I'm no fan of TB, but I have to say, you guys have short memories. Have you forgotten, under the Tories, the brown paper envolopes stuffed with money, the two top Tories that actually went to prison for perjury, all the sex scandals? To say this Labour goverment is worse than the Tories, is stretching the point a bit.

[sp1814]

Nope - I like Tony Blair. Ha. There, I said it. I think he's a great man. Not a political giant...but a great man.

I lived through the last Tory government and I remember the scum that they were. I would rather eat a bowlful of razor blades than vote for a party like that. They shamed the nation.

One point that was made to me a few years back, and it seems to pan out here...whenever a Labour politician gets into trouble, it's normally a financial scandal. With the Tories, it's always sex.

...however, the Lib Dems seem to be going for that particular crown.

[madein1978]

I'm not for a minute suggesting that the Tories were squeaky clean, of course not, but they, in my opinion did less damage and less against the people that put them there than Labour. The Falklands war in 1982 was not a war that was forced upon us, it was legit and justified, unlike Iraq, Labour lied to us and cheated us to get in there, and it has opened a giant can of worms. But to be honest, looking back, no government of the latter half of the 20th Century were completely beyond reproach or squeaky clean, Tory or Labour, its just that Labour have a worse track record, how about the winter of discontent of 1978/79, that was a major political screw up, and was enough to finish Labour, they only ousted the Tories because by 1997 the Tories were tired and people were tired of them, because they were only keeping things ticking over and we were stagnating, Labour sorted that one didn't they!???