Blair stares into abyss - Chancellor challenged to save PM in fees fight

[Ediacara]

Blair stares into abyss
Chancellor challenged to save PM in fees fight

Patrick Wintour, chief political correspondent
Monday January 26, 2004
The Guardian

Tony Blair was last night battling to save his premiership from the abyss on tuition fees with more concessions due to be announced to MPs today, and a minister calling on the chancellor to warn rebels they would not be given ministerial office in a future Brown adminstration.

Gordon Brown, increasingly seen as the only man capable of rescuing the embattled prime minister from defeat tomorrow, spent the weekend urging MPs to fall into line. But leading rebels claimed nearly 100 hardcore supporters, and warned that the level of abstentions could be Mr Blair's undoing.

The vote will take place just a day before Lord Hutton's report into the death of the weapons expert Dr David Kelly is published, with Downing Street yesterday playing down reports that it expected the report to clear the prime minister of misleading the public - making this the most potentially perilous and unpredictable week of Mr Blair's premiership.

The unprecedented call for Mr Brown, and other aspirants to No 10, to block rebel careers was made by Lord Rooker, the planning minister.

More at the Guardian

[Sagan]

1. If Blair loses the vote, does his government fall?

Or do they not do it that way anymore?

[IndianaGreen]

2. Someone will have to call for a vote of "No confidence"

She said it was the politics of madness to vote with the Tories on Tuesday, adding: "We are approaching an abyss and I hope people will look over it before they jump."

Looks like New Labour is scared, and they should be!

[Pax Argent]

4. Page to the Democrats regarding supporting your base

When you repeatedly betray your constituency, it will eventually bite you in the ass.

I don't know much about English politics. I seem to recall that the Tories are somewhat like the English right wing. How possible is it Poodle Tony will go down and how will this affect things over there?

[Voltaire99]

6. Tories = right wing

Yes, you're correct. They're like our right wing, only less well armed. ;-)

For a good film about England under the ultimate Tory, Margaret Thatcher, who was sort of like what you'd get if you cross-spliced the genes of Dick Cheney with those of the Queen from "Aliens," rent the DVD "High Hopes" by Mike Leigh.

[acmavm]

3. If Blair had any integrity of decency, he would resign now and try to

save the Labour party from the wild ride that it will be taken on if he gets a vote of 'no confidence'. 85% of the British public knows that he lied to them in order to appease Bush* & Co., so that he could join in their invasion of Iraq. So from now on, no matter what he says, Blair will be a source of contention and bitterness in the government. If he truly cared about the party, he would quit now before the Tory's get any stronger. He might even be able to salvage some credibility if he he does, as long as he admits that he was 'wrong' about Iraq. He can claim that he was misled by the intelligence, like Bush* is trying to do. There are a lot of stupid people out there, it might even work.

[AndyTiedye]

5. But Since Bush* is Controlling Blair

Blair will stick it out to the end and take his party down with him.

Funny how Bush* ALWAYS hits the Trifecta!

[Devils Advocate NZ]

7. Not just controlling...

I personally believe that Blair was a right wing plant all along. It happened here in NZ, and if he is indeed a plant, then not only did his goals include passing right wing legislation under a left wing banner (privatisation being one of the key goals) but a secondary, although possibly more important goal is to deal a mortal blow to the Labour party.

The idea is to get left wingers to no longer believe the Labour party is truly a left wing party, in the hopes that they abandon it. I believe this is also happening in the US.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

8. Re: A vote of confidence

Are people seriously suggesting that Labour MP's would vote themselves out of government? That is not going to happen.

[Spentastic]

9. Bollocks

This week has all the elements of a classic New Labour plot.

Tony Blair is under no real threat from the Hutton enquiry, He knows this. At the very worst Hoon will be forced out.

"Rebel" MP's will not force a defeat on tuition fees as they are spineless. It's a terrible policy and getting worse by the concession.

The party are just setting the stage for Tony's "glorius" victory. Tony will then continue to ignore Parliament and continue his modernisation campaign that will leave the Labour party dead.