Tag Archives: Tony Blair

The news in tweets: Friday, July 7, 2023

Is this Keir Starmer’s fastest u-turn yet?

Starmer’s relaxed attitude to keeping promises has been exposed so many times that even mainstream news shows are catching on:

Tory claim about consistent investment in the NHS is a myth

Is Tony Blair’s idea for people to ‘queue jump’ NHS waiting lists by going private merely giving rich people faster access to public services?

Is that a good point?

I think it is – as those providing private health services are very often also working for the NHS.

Getting people to pay for their services encourages them to spend more time on their private practices than on NHS work, thereby disadvantaging the poor. Right?

The UK is NOT ‘running out of money’, no matter what is said on Sky News

Malcolm Reavell is more or less right. The UK government does borrow money from the Bank of England, but as the Bank is wholly owned by the UK government, it is literally borrowing from itself.

This act, in fact, creates money – meaning the UK cannot run out of it. The trouble is that the act of putting more money into the economy is inflationary (or can be). The answer to that, of course, is to set taxation at a level that negates the inflation caused by pumping in the money.

The logical way to balance this taxation would be by weighting it strongly towards the richest people in society; they benefit the most from the UK economy as it currently works. Also, for the economy to work at all, more of the money being pumped in needs to go into the hands of the people with the least, who will have to spend it on goods and services, simply to make ends meet.

That money then travels further – thereby adding more value to the economy – than if it was given to the rich in the first place.

Here’s why teachers are right to demand more pay – and why the ‘inflation’ argument against them is wrong

How would Labour stop profiteering banks? By having a quiet word with them. Will that work?


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Dental care in the UK is awful because governments made it that way

It’s amazing how some writers spin out an article when all we really need is a quick run-down of the facts.

We all know dentistry in the UK is in crisis. Many of us can’t get in to a dentist for a check-up and the reason is simple: there aren’t enough dentists in the UK.

Why aren’t there enough? Two reasons, according to Novara Media‘s article:

The real reason for this understaffing… was austerity: the government has slashed funding for NHS dental services by 8% in real terms since 2010. In 2013, David Cameron placed a hard cap on the number of trainee dental places his government would fund (the cap was lifted briefly in 2020-21, but was reimposed in 2022 and remains in place despite the current crisis).

Perhaps the most significant government contribution to the current crisis in British dentistry dates back to 2006, when Tony Blair introduced a new contract between the NHS and its dentists. Prior to that point, dentists were paid for each piece of work they did. As a result of the 2006 reform, dentists are now paid for a certain number of “units of dental activity”, with little distinction made between complex operations and simple treatments. If they don’t complete nearly all of this work (96%), dentists have to pay back some of their fee. But this is complicated by the fact that the total amount of work they can do is itself capped, meaning that if they do too much work, they have to turn patients away. The result is that many NHS dentists find themselves unable to make a decent living due to the low pay involved in dentistry (45% reported a decline in NHS pay since 2020), not to mention chronically overworked: 87% have felt symptoms of stress and anxiety in the past year.

So politicians created this crisis with a stupid contract and with funding cuts.

The answer is clear: change the contract to re-incentivise dentists, and restore funding levels.

Any government failing to do that is creating its own toothache (sorry).

Source: How Did British Dental Care Get So Awful? | Novara Media


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Corbyn’s Labour can’t be blamed if Johnson uses Yellowhammer to launch a coup. Here’s why…

Jeremy Corbyn is not Boris Johnson: and he wouldn’t enable that man to start a dictatorship – unlike his forerunner Tony Blair.

Apparently it is possible for Boris Johnson to use Tony Blair’s Civil Contingencies Act to bypass democracy in the case of a “no deal” Brexit.

It seems some people – you know, media/Establishment types – want to use that connection to smear the current Labour Party as dictatorship-enablers, if it comes to that.

Fortunately, Beastrabban is around to put a stop to all that – at least for those who read his criminally-neglected site which you can find here.

He states that the CCA

allows the government to bypass parliament and over-ride existing legislation by having “a senior Minister of the Crown” issue “temporary emergency regulations”, valid for 30-day renewable stretches. It even enables habeas corpus to be over-ridden – as well as the Bill of Rights, the succession ot the monarchy, the five-year time limit on parliaments and the checks on a prime minister’s power to appoint an unlimited number of peers.

Compare this with the behaviour of the Nazis after the Reichstag fire in the 1930s:

[They declared] a state of emergency, and immediately seized power. In the following weeks the other parties and the trade unions were banned, Hitler declared Fuhrer, and the anti-Semitic legislation put in place. Jews, gypsies and political prisoners were rounded up and sent to the concentration camps.

But this cannot be used against the current Labour Party because it was passed by Tony Blair:

Blair was a Thatcherite, and his policies reflected the demands of the right-wing political and industrial elite. He ignored the party’s base in favour of political donors, who were allowed to shape government policy and even staff government departments. He obeyed the City’s demands for light financial regulation, listened to the same right-wing think tanks and private healthcare companies that influenced Peter Lilley and John MajorAnd he was also guided by the right-wing, Tory press, particularly Murdoch’s vile rags.

Since then, however, the leadership of the Labour party has changed. And Jeremy Corbyn has a very strong record of voting against the government, including Blair’s. If anyone can be trusted to block the operation of this pernicious legislation, it’s him.

If you want further information about the loyalties of Tony Blair…

Blair was also anti-democratic in that he tried to pass legislation establishing secret courts, in which the normal laws of evidence did not apply if the government decided that it was for reasons of national security. The press and public were to be excluded from these trials. Defendants and their counsel need not be told, contrary to natural justice, who their accuser was or what the evidence against them was.

But Blair was not alone in trying to pass this. When they got in, the Tory-Lib Dem coalition actually did it.

And the coalition also removed the right of habeas corpus.

So much for the Tories’ and Lib Dems’ concern to preserve  constitutional government and Britons’ historic civil liberties.

That pretty much puts the seal on Tony Blair’s loyalties – and on the reasons we should all ensure Boris Johnson never has a chance to invoke the CCA. Right?

Source: Johnson’s Yellowhammer Coup – Prepared by New Labour? | Beastrabban\’s Weblog

Have YOU donated to my crowdfunding appeal, raising funds to fight false libel claims by TV celebrities who should know better? These court cases cost a lot of money so every penny will help ensure that wealth doesn’t beat justice.

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Blair COULD be expelled from the Labour Party for supporting The Independent Group

Under suspicion: Tony Blair may have believed he was above the rules that affect all members of the Labour Party. Let’s hope he’s proved wrong.

Yet again, Vox Political has proved itself to be ahead of the crowd.

I said Tony Blair should be expelled from the Labour Party after he broke party rules by speaking in support of the new Independent Group.

Now it seems independent journalist Liam Young has matched my words with actions, calling on the party’s compliance unit to launch an investigation:

Note that he echoed my words. I stated: “Everybody in the Labour Party is equally subject to the rules. Right?

“But will Labour’s complaints department – known as the compliance unit – take action?

“Doubtful.

“As the anti-Semitism row has shown, this part of the party is dedicated to supporting the privileges of party representatives, rather than the rules – or the rights of the membership to see those rules supported.”

In fact, current rules say memberships should not be suspended unless there is a danger of them adversely influencing other. As a former party leader who, although yesterday’s man, still has some clout, Mr Blair clearly qualifies for suspension under this rule.

Evolve Politics has reported on this, and its article is well worth reading.

Members of the public seem to be in support of a suspension:


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Tony Blair supports The Independent Group – so why hasn’t he been expelled from Labour?

Tony Blair: He can say what he wants without fear of censure, because Labour’s complaints procedure is biased in favour of party grandees. So much for everybody being treated equally!

Labour Party rules are very clear on this: No card-carrying Labour member may remain in the party if they support another political organisation in any meaningful way.

That includes former party leaders because everybody in the Labour Party is equally subject to the rules. Right?

Here‘s Tony Blair, speaking up in support of The Independent Group, as quoted in The Independent:

“Last week several MPs defected to form a new political grouping.

“These are new times. We need, despite our moderation, to embrace the spirit of insurgency.

“We need new ideas and thinking on policy. Above all, we need to wake up, gird up, stand up and summon up the strength and intelligence to prevail.”

He also said the anti-Semitism row had been a “running sore” in the Labour Party – but produced not a single scrap of evidence to support claims that Jewish Labour MPs had been subjected to anti-Semitic abuse by party members.

It is known that there have been six prosecutions relating to anti-Semitic abuse of former Labour MP Luciana Berger, for example – but none of them involved active Labour Party members. Perhaps Mr Blair protests too much?

As for Mr Blair: It is clear that he has broken party rules and should be expelled:

https://twitter.com/deselectbangers/status/1100349548113858560

But will Labour’s complaints department – known as the compliance unit – take action?

Doubtful.

As the anti-Semitism row has shown, this part of the party is dedicated to supporting the privileges of party representatives, rather than the rules – or the rights of the membership to see those rules supported.

While innocent party members continue to be cast out under false claims of anti-Semitism that will trouble them for the rest of their lives, this elitist will be able to carry on preaching falsehoods to eager ears – because it’s what his fellow elites in the Labour leadership want. They are very much like the Conservatives in that respect. Wait a couple of weeks and then tell me if I’m wrong.


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Labour usurper Tony Blair gets schooled on what the party REALLY stands for

Tight-lipped: Tony Blair probably wishes he’d been like this during his Nick Robinson interview.

If he had any sense, Tony Blair would be wishing he had kept his mouth shut.

The right-wing former Labour leader took part in a radio interview with former Young Conservatives chairman Nick Robinson in which he moaned about the current direction of Labour.

His question: “Can it be taken back?” is nonsense.

The fact is, the Labour Party has been retaken after Blair turned it away from its socialist background and forced its members to put up with an elitist, centrally-led hierarchy in which our wishes were steamrolled and leader-approved yes-people were parachuted into safe seats, to provide a cushy livelihood for the favourites, no matter what the rest of us may have been suffering.

The backlash was immediate, and severe:

Current Labour backbencher Chris Williamson told the BBC about the current Labour Party in no uncertain terms:

Reporter Paul Mason took a stronger line:

And Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn had this to say:

Others, including high-profile figures, were far less compromising:

The fact is that Blair’s politics was regressive, not progressive.

I’m giving the last word to Evolve Politics, who provided the following perceptive analysis of Mr Blair’s mistake:

Visit our JustGiving page to help Vox Political’s Mike Sivier fight anti-Semitism libels in court


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How should we react as Tony Blair announces new institute for centre-ground politics?

Tony Blair will launch his new institute in the new year [Image: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images].

Tony Blair will launch his new institute in the new year [Image: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images].

This Blog has already made it perfectly clear that Tony Blair does not represent centre-ground politics in any way at all, so perhaps we should react by denouncing him as a liar for suggesting it.

I wrote: “He talks about the Progressive Left but he’s as much a product of the Reactionary Right as, for example, David Cameron, who worked very hard to follow the Blairite model of neoliberal economic policies leavened with social reform.

“Margaret Thatcher, whose project during the 1980s was entirely geared towards the destruction of the UK’s industrial base and erosion of its trade unions, in order to destroy the economic leverage enjoyed by working people in the 1970s, considered Mr Blair’s New Labour to be her greatest achievement.

“Blair belongs to the reactionary, regressive Right and is trying to hoodwink us all into believing otherwise.”

But perhaps that is paying too much respect to the former prime minister’s latest project.

Perhaps the best possible reaction is that posted on Twitter by Matt Turner:

161202-corbyn-laughing

Tony Blair has announced that he is to launch a new institute for centre-ground politics in response to what he said were growing concerns about the global forces of right and leftwing populism.

The institute will be launched in the new year, the former prime minister said in a statement, but added it should not be interpreted as a desire to return to party politics.

“This is not about my returning to the front line of politics,” Blair said. “I have made it abundantly clear that this is not possible. However, I care about my country and the world my children and grandchildren will grow up in; and want to play at least a small part in contributing to the debate about the future of both.”

Source: Tony Blair to launch new institute for centre-ground politics | Politics | The Guardian

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Oh bloody hell, here’s Tony Blair

What rough beast, its hour come round at last, slouches towards Westminster for a comeback? (With apologies to Yeats.)

Tony Blair praised Theresa May as a ‘very solid, sensible person’. [Image: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images].

Tony Blair praised Theresa May as a ‘very solid, sensible person’. So much for his left-wing credentials!  [Image: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images].

It’s Tony Blair. How godawfully depressing.

Here’s a man whose ‘Third Way’ ruined the Labour Party, driving voters away in their millions, turning socialism into a dirty word (by association – there were precious few socialists in a Blair cabinet), and eventually turfing the party out of office for more than six years – so far.

He talks about the Progressive Left but he’s as much a product of the Reactionary Right as, for example, David Cameron, who worked very hard to follow the Blairite model of neoliberal economic policies leavened with social reform.

The philosophy seemed to be, “Give ’em gay marriage and they’ll sell themselves into slavery”, and it seems to have been correct.

Margaret Thatcher, whose project during the 1980s was entirely geared towards the destruction of the UK’s industrial base and erosion of its trade unions, in order to destroy the economic leverage enjoyed by working people in the 1970s, considered Mr Blair’s New Labour to be her greatest achievement.

And now he’s back, claiming that the country needs him because Jeremy Corbyn – the most popular Labour leader, possibly in 50 years – is… not a “nutter”, as Mr Blair insists he has been misquoted as saying, but at least “mistaken”.

He says Labour has been “captured by the far left for the first time in the party’s history”. What utter drivel.

Jeremy Corbyn is a centre-left politician. If he were of the far left, he would be demanding the nationalisation of all industry and the UK’s reduction to single-party state status. He isn’t.

Clem Attlee was more left-wing than Mr Corbyn and his government gave us the National Health Service that everybody claims they love. Wilson and Callaghan were closer to Communism.

But Mr Blair needs to position himself and he wants the “centre left” label that belongs to Mr Corbyn.

Otherwise he would have to admit that he is a right wing politician – and that would play very poorly with his target audience.

But he gives himself away with his admission that he thinks Theresa May is “a very solid, sensible person” – she isn’t. She is a weak leader, from a line of weak Tory leaders, who cannot stand up for a single policy if a business leader opposes it.

Still, her politics is clearly the kind Mr Blair prefers and, after all, Margaret Thatcher liked him and David Cameron copied him. So why doesn’t he clear off and join the Conservative Party instead of haunting Labour?

To sum up, Tony Blair is not a representative of the Progressive Left or Centre-Left. That space is occupied by Jeremy Corbyn. Blair belongs to the reactionary, regressive Right and is trying to hoodwink us all into believing otherwise.

About the only thing he has said that anyone in Labour could support is that the party “has a historic duty to try to represent people in this country who need our representation desperately”.

But look at the choice of topic with which he has decided to re-enter politics: He has opted to take a view of Brexit that is deliberately antagonistic to the established Labour Party position.

Mr Corbyn has said that the referendum result will bind the Labour Party and its duty now is to work for the best possible parting from the European Union; Mr Blair wants people to think there is still a chance the split could be halted.

But look at what he says and you’ll see it’s all bluster. He doesn’t offer any guidance on how the people are to register their change of heart.

He says: “It can be stopped if the British people decide that, having seen what it means, the pain-gain, cost-benefit analysis doesn’t stack up… Either you get maximum access to the single market, in which case you’ll end up accepting a significant number of the rules on immigration, on payment into the budget, on the European court’s jurisdiction. People may then say, ‘Well, hang on, why are we leaving then?’

“Or alternatively, you’ll be out of the single market and the economic pain may be very great because, beyond doubt, if you do that you’ll have years, maybe a decade, of economic restructuring,” so even ‘Leave’ voters “would eventually “look at this in a practical way, not an ideological way”.

And what would they do next?

There is no mechanism for the people to register any desire to change their collective mind if the politicians in Westminster choose not to allow it – and Westminster has said there will be no further referendum.

Why should there be?

We know most of the people were cheated, one way or another, by snake-oil salesmen like Nigel Farage, Boris Johnson and Michael Gove who promised untold riches and are delivering debt.

But plenty of us were saying this at the time and those who voted in ignorance should know that it is no excuse.

Ultimately, Mr Blair has nothing to say that hasn’t been said already – by Conservatives and by Liberal Democrats.

If anybody wants a real alternative, it is offered by Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour.

Source: Tony Blair: Brexit could be stopped if Britons change their minds | Politics | The Guardian

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US presidential has-been attacks future UK prime minister. Awkward…

Bill Clinton at a campaign rally at North Carolina State University - with Lady Gaga, whose stage name is highly appropriate to the comments attributed to the ex-president [Image: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images].

Bill Clinton at a campaign rally at North Carolina State University – with Lady Gaga, whose stage name is highly appropriate to the comments attributed to the ex-president [Image: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images].

Ex-President Bill Clinton’s comments, made at a speech last October, have to be taken in the context of the US election taking place at the moment.

If I recall correctly, Bernie Sanders was a candidate for the Democrat nomination at the time, and Mr Corbyn has expressed support for him in the past. Mr Sanders was the closest the US has come to nominating a socialist presidential candidate (although that’s not saying much).

Also, of course, Donald Trump was seeking the Republican nomination, which he eventually secured.

And Mr Clinton was speaking in support of his own wife Hillary.

But he has also undermined himself by referring to a conversation with a former Northern Ireland Secretary who praised Mrs Clinton for helping him through a different period for that part of the UK.

Mr Clinton seems to have assumed it was a cabinet minister in David Cameron’s Coalition government but, according to The Guardian, it is more likely to have been Shaun Woodward, who was NI secretary under Gordon Brown.

So Mr Clinton seems more than a little confused and Jeremy Corbyn’s office is probably right to ignore what he says.

Jeremy Corbyn was chosen as Labour’s leader because he was “the maddest person in the room”, former US President Bill Clinton has declared.

Documents published by Wikileaks reveal that Clinton claimed Labour party members were so furious at being “shafted” by Tony Blair that “they went out and practically got a guy off the street” instead.

The explosive remarks, to a private dinner of wealthy donors in October 2015, show the former President comparing Corbyn to leaders of anti-austerity parties like Greece’s Syriza.

The documents – part of a raft of leaks designed to undermine Hillary Clinton’s Presidential bid – reveal that he also attacked Ed Miliband for being too left wing for British voters.

When contacted by HuffPost UK, Corbyn’s office refused to comment on the remarks.

Corbyn has in the past voiced his support for Bernie Sanders, and claimed that he had helped shift Hillary leftwards on issues such as free trade.

Source: Bill Clinton Says Jeremy Corbyn Was ‘The Maddest Person In The Room’ When Labour Chose Its Leader | Huffington Post

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Cameron seems keen to join the ranks of British war criminals

Reyaad Khan (L) and Ruhul Amin (R), who were killed in a drone strike by the RAF in August.(YouTube)

Reyaad Khan (L) and Ruhul Amin (R), who were killed in a drone strike by the RAF in August.(YouTube)

Someone should tell David Cameron that getting his retaliation in first is not an act that is recognised by the law; people need to commit crimes before being punished for them, and even then the punishment must be appropriate according to the law.

It seems strange to be discussing the Cameron-supported killing of Reyaad Khan, a Cardiff man alleged to be a member of Islamic State, so soon after This Blog expressed concern over the legality of the killing of Osama Bin Laden by US troops, supported by President Obama – but that is how recent events have transpired.

Cameron has told us that Khan was planning terror attacks on the UK, so the Conservative Government ordered his death in a drone strike on August 22.

How do we know this man was planning terror attacks on the UK? Where is the evidence? Is it in another ‘dodgy dossier’, similar to that in which, according to Tony Blair, he had evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq?

Had this man participated in previous terror attacks? If so, when? Where is the proof that shows him taking part?

Cameron said the UK had taken action in “self-defence”, invoking the right to do so under Article 51 of the UN charter – but Article 51 specifically states that an “armed attack” must take place against a UN member state before any such response.

Apparently, under the ‘Caroline principle’, a pre-emptive strike is permissible if the “necessity of self-defence was instant, overwhelming, leaving no choice of means, and no moment of deliberation”. We have no evidence to show that this was the case.

“It’s extremely alarming that the UK has apparently been conducting summary executions from the air,” Kate Allen, Amnesty International’s UK director told International Business Times. “In following the United States down a lawless road of remote-controlled summary killings from the sky, the RAF has crossed a line.”

On the information we have, she’s right. We’ve seen no evidence of any prior attacks, nor have we seen evidence of the need to prevent future attacks.

All we have seen is an act of murder against a UK citizen by his own government.

Even more worrying is the claim that defence secretary Michael Fallon has a “kill list” of alleged terrorists operating in the Middle East. He is on record as having said the Conservatives “wouldn’t hesitate to do it again”.

Until we see the evidence of terrorist activity, the British public should not see the death of Reyaad Khan as anything other than a war crime.

The onus on David Cameron, Michael Fallon and their co-conspirators is to deliver this evidence at once – or deliver themselves to The Hague for trial.

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Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:

HWG PrintHWG eBook

The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:

SWAHTprint SWAHTeBook