can we talk about British government now?

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There are an awful lot of threads about Bush and Kerry and the Democrat/Republican argument, and while this is all perfectly relevant, I feel that it sometimes eclipses the political situation in other countries. I think I know more about the policies of the American candidates than I do about those in my own country.

Really this thread is so that we can catch up on the British parties, opinions on how they sit within the current domestic and global situations, who's staying, who's going etc. Opinions on Blair and Howard particularly welcome.

― dog latin (dog latin), Monday, 30 August 2004 15:09 (twenty-one years ago)

I like the way when Howard became Tory leader there was lots of comment about how the Tories at last had a leader who got put the wind up Blair. Now the Tories have started once more to grumble about how rubbish their leader is. In time they will learn the lesson of Fine Gael (Ireland's main opposition party) - that changing the face at the top is not necessarily going to magically make people like you.

― DV (dirtyvicar), Monday, 30 August 2004 15:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Starting this thread on a British Bank Holiday means us Irish get our spake in first.

Living in England in the 90's the thing that struck me was how *strange* the Tories were. In Ireland, politicians are fairly similar in character/interests to Irish people. This is true to some extent in America as well. But in Britain, you had these alien people like Lamont, Tebbitt, Heseltine, Alan Clark, Cecil Parkinson, Gummer, Howard in charge. New Labour, for all its faults, is still largely made up of what the journalist Alan Watkins calls 'fully paid up members of the human race'. The Tories still aren't, and in fact seem to be getting ever stranger (they should really have stuck with William Hague). This is the real difference between the 2 main parties, and it's the reason I don't expect to see a Tory Prime Minister for at least another 10 years.
(By the way DV, aren't Fine Gael on the way back?)

― Joe Kay (feethurt), Monday, 30 August 2004 15:58 (twenty-one years ago)

Can I just point out how funny Michael Howard's 'row' with the Whitehouse is? The guy's so pathetic he can't even keep on the right side of the unscrupulous twats in the Republican party

― Bumfluff, Monday, 30 August 2004 16:01 (twenty-one years ago)

Our politicians are all on holiday, aren't they?

― jel -- (jel), Monday, 30 August 2004 16:55 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, nothing really happening at the moment. I'm sure plenty of threads will appear when there is.

― Kevin Gilchrist (Mr Fusion), Monday, 30 August 2004 17:36 (twenty-one years ago)

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