Of all the discourse, debate and coverage of the resignation timetable this week, I have been struck by the comments of one contributor, cannot recall who it was.
They said that the country had felt and still believes that TB should have been able to resolve all the problems in this country and indeed in the world. That he was meant to right all wrongs. That it is his failure to do this that has caused such terrible loss of trust and support etc.
I thought about this a lot.
You might like to get your head round this too.
Did we expect him to right the world's wrongs?
I think the commentator might be right.
I cannot point to another politician in this country or another who we thought should be able to do this, but in TB such expectations were explicit and implicit.
But now that it has been put to me, as a radio listener, like that, I can clearly see that was the case and also why it was ridiculous.
As he said himself, we expected too much, of him and of each other and of the world.
Expectations were too high.
He is not and did not describe himself as our nation's saviour nor the world's saviour, but much of the criticism levelled at him is about his failure to be such a figure, although not in such an obvious or vocal way of course.
I wish I could remember who said this, but it was a valuable lesson and I am thankful for it.
What did you expect of Heath, Wilson, Callaghan, Thatcher or Major? Or earlier leaders? Less? the same? more? Is it reasonable?
Fascinating.
15 comments:
It seems to me that expectations of politicians are almost always too high, but Tony Blair has met those expectations better than any other politician I can name. Tony Blair has kept the promises he made to the nation in 1997 - we have the national minimum wage, we have peace in Northern Ireland, we have devolution, we have equal opportunities and equal rights for people of every race, gender and sexuality. We have more nurses, more doctors, more police, and more people in work. This government has also restored the welfare state, after it was smashed by Thatcher.
These achievements are more than enough for him to qualify as one of the best Prime Ministers the UK has ever had.
But these are achievements of the Labour Party as well as Tony Blair, and I'd like to see the Tories or the Lib Dems show us anything they've ever done that can ever compare with the achievements of this Labour Government.
I'm sure they'll try. Get posting you charlatans!
Well the lib dems in Liverpool have stopped using bottled water at council meetings, apparently to save money or save then environment or save their skins, unfortuantely I think this was an Inpsector Clueless initiative so it didnt save his skin
Well, 'masked floating voter,' as to the past achievements of Liberal governments. The 1906 Liberal government did get around to establishing school meals and medical services for children, along with the setting up of juvenile courts. They established Old Age Pensions, payable at the Post Office, thus breaking the link with the horrors of the Poor Law. They also found time to establish Labour Exchanges and provided medical attention for workers aged 16 to 70. Perhaps this is why Gordon Brown regards Lloyd George as one of his greatest political heroes.
The thing what really turned me off voting Lib (dem) (are we talking about the liberals or the lib dems here, can you stick to one name)and I nealry did!, was how they stitched up their leader just becuase he liked a snifter or three and replaced him with Lloyd George's paper lad,
and Dont get me onto "Cheeky" Lembic Optic either. the spokesman for Rumanian affairs, now there's a credible politician....
Is there anyhting more recent you can bleat about....wasnt it a Liberal (dem) who abolished slavery "Well it would have been if it had existed then"....
The Lib Dems in Liverpool reduced Council Tax in Liverpool (once the highest in the country under Labour), improved services (so much so they are one of the most improved in the country and were once the worst under Labour) and brought the Capital of Culture to our city....
Read up on it before you make any comments.
There's a few care workers who wouldnt agree with the council's financial acumen, fancy not apying the poor sods travelling time, no we'll only pay you when you are actually wiping OAPs arses not for the time it takes you to get from location to location, I was listening to the Director of Social Services trying to jusitfy what was going with Care Workers.
Now don't get me on the Capital of Culture...£23 million short, Warren having to remorgage his fire engine and some other stuff...so really it had better be good..because we are going to be paying for it in one way or another for a a very very long time.
Now then what about the £20 odd grand hire of the yacht in the south of France plus the other money spent all that free booze and hospitality dan le Sud.
http://subculturescityofthedead.blogspot.com/2007/04/cover-up-on-250000-trip-to-cannes.html
I'm assuming they all flew out on Easyjet cheapie tickets?
Maybe all the care workers should be given a nice glossy 10x8 of everyone smoozing down in Cannes just to take their minds off the arse wiping and crappy pay they are now going to get, you know what, it might just work......
Oh yeah there's the £18 K shelter to stop Hilton's car being shat on by the pigeons and the the £20K + spent on useless robotic falcons (they should have checked they worked before they went out and bought such an obviously useless device
http://www.rampantscotland.com/let030315.htm)
Let's hope the pigeons dont develop killer instincts like yul brynner in Westworld.
I too am happy to debate finance mismanagement and poor services.
What about the poor sods in homeless hostels for up to 26 weeks with their families, babies, little children?
Liverpool is one of the lowest performers in the country at caring for and protecting these desperately vulnerable people. The situation in Liverpool is no different to anywhere else (except that we have boarded up thousands of houses for years when we could have had families in them). So what is the excuse for this disgraceful set of affairs?
Health and Adult Services is one long catalogue of disasters after another, shutting care homes like Venmore, under-paying carers, crisis in social work provision, crisis in homeless provision....
These are NOT improved services.
Laughing at description of Menzies "Ming" Campbell as Lloyd George's paperboy.
That's agist that is, oh masked one
Lloyd George was a crook!
Steady on Labour's Loudmouth!
Lloyd George knew my father...(father knew Lloyd George)
Wasn't he Welsh as well, see I have read a book on politics.
Hmmm I think a few people need to get facts straightened out.
My father was sacked by the Labour council... on of the many that recieved a p45 from a cab driver.
You lot make me sick.
Someone of your political acument will be more than well aware that Neil Kinnock, the then leader of the Labour Party was himself intensely critical of this when he talked about "the grotesque chaos of a Labour council - hiring taxis to scuttle round a city handing out redundancy notices to its own workers".
I dont think you will find me an apologist for the Militant Tendency, who at that time, 22 years ago, had infiltrated the party and essentially taken over in most important ways.
Your father was put in an invidious position, encouraged to accept the P45 with the promise of being taken back on, this being merely a "legal device".
As you will know the council announced that it was about to run out of cash and would issue 90 days redundancy notices to all employees.
A terrible situation, to run out of money to pay salaries. Caused in the main by the cash starving of the city by the Tories.
I wont be defending politicians in this but would want to support the hard working council staff whose livelihoods were threatened through no fault of their own.
You will also be aware that Labour then spent several years intensely fighting to expel this "party within a party", with Jane Kennedy at the forefront of the fight to clean up Labour politics in Liverpool.
This may be the case but Jane Kennedy has gone straight to the other side, becoming the lapdog of who ever leads the party at the time.
She's just as bad as the rest of them.
If only there could be more Robin Cooks in this world....
Anonymous - What's this business of going straight to "the other side"? Sounds like something Jim Morrison used to say. It's hardly an interdimentional shift to back Gordon Brown after having backed Tony Blair. Last time I checked Gordon Brown, Tony Blair and Jane Kennedy were all members of the same Party.
If Jane is a lapdog for nominating Gordon Brown, he must have an awful lot of lapdogs. Maybe he'll lend one to Jose Mourinho?
Or maybe Jane agrees with the majority of the Labour Party as to whom should succeed Tony Blair, which is far from lapdoggish behaviour in my view.
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