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May 14, 2007

UK: When Tony Blair Has Left The UK Stage, What Next?

This article by Adrian Morgan (Giraldus Cambrensis of Western Resistance) appeared earlier today in Family Security Matters and is reproduced with their permission.

Background

Tony Blair's political obituaries are already being written, though he will cling on at 10, Downing Street for at least six weeks. Since September 2004, Blair has hinted that he will go. On Thursday last week he finally set a date for his departure from office - June 27, 2007. It was announced that the current Home Secretary, John Reid, will be resigning, along with Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott.

The highlights of the Deputy Prime Minister's less than dazzling career have included being doused with a bucket of water by punk band Chumbawamba at the 1998 Brit Awards, punching a man who threw an egg at him in Wales in 2001, and being suspected of corruption. On a visit to Malaysia last year, he called the host nation by its pre-independence title - "Malaya". Prescott, who was planning to resign before the next election, will hardly be missed.

In July 1994 Tony Charles Lynton Blair was the shadow Home Secretary when the Labour Party's leader, John Smith, died of a heart attack. Blair was elected party leader. On May 1, 1997, a general election was held. Labour won by a large majority and on May 2, Blair became Prime Minister. Ten years ago, with a manifesto promising a "new Labour" for a "new Britain", Blair revived the dreary socialist party. Appropriating as its theme tune a song by D:ream called "Things can only get better", there was a sense of optimism in the party. Blair was younger and fresher than his predecessors. Copying Clinton, Blair invited rock stars to Number 10 - in a measure dubbed "Cool Britannia". When Princess Diana died, and the nation was shocked to lose a loved icon, Blair's valedictory speech caught the mood of the nation.

A decade further on, the optimism has been replaced by ennui and apathy. The economy has been managed since May 2, 1997, by Gordon Brown, the Chancellor of the Exchequer. In 1997, four days after the election, Brown made a revolutionary move - he freed the Bank of England from political control. His fiscal policies initially brought economic growth. Now, after 10 years as Chancellor - breaking all previous records for longevity in this post - Brown's economic record is coming under fire over pensions and borrowing. There are no major figures running against him in the party's upcoming leadership battle, guaranteeing Gordon Brown a place as Prime Minister. The next general election is not scheduled until 2009.

Though never confirmed, there have long been rumors that Brown's succession after Blair was agreed by the pair over a meal in 1994 . This Mephistophelean deal allegedly took place at a restaurant called Granita in Islington, north London - the so-called Granita Pact. Belief in this pact encouraged some of Brown's followers in the party to attempt to stage a coup last summer. Blair responded by announcing in September 2006 that he would be gone within a year.

So who is Gordon Brown? The son of a Church of Scotland preacher, James Gordon Brown was born on February 20, 1951. He lost the sight in one eye while playing rugby when he was 16. His government biography states that he was Rector of Edinburgh University between 1972 and 1975. He became a university lecturer, and was employed by Scottish TV from 1980 to 1983. Brown had tried to become an MP for Edinburgh South in 1979, but did not gain sufficient votes. He was elected as MP for Dumfermline East in 1983, and held this post until 2005 until this was abolished in a shake up of Scottish constituency borders. From 2005 he has been MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath. He was made Shadow Chancellor in 1992.

In 1975, while Rector of Edinburgh University, 24-year old Brown edited a publication of the university, entitled the Red Paper. In this publication, Brown discussed the "relevance" to Scotland of the views of Antonio Gramsci (1891 - 1937), founder of the Italian Communist Party. Brown wrote: "This requires from the Labour Movement in Scotland today a postive commitment to creating a socialist society, a coherent strategy with rhythm and modality to each reform to cancel the logic of capitalism and a programme of immediate aims which leads out of one social order into another. Such a social reorganisation - a phased extension of public control under workers' sustained and enlarged, would in EP Thompson's words lead to 'a crisis not of despair and disintegration but a crisis in which the necessity for a peaceful revolutionary transition to an alternative socialist logic became daily more evident'."

This commitment to "socialism" is something that "New Labour" has largely abandoned. In 2000, former Labour Party deputy prime minister Roy Hattersley described Gordon Brown as the "secret socialist at Number 11". One promise that Brown has recently made reflects his earlier commitment to socialist ideals. Brown has announced that he will be spending more on Britain's National Health Service, where free medical treatment requires massive investment of funds. Questions remain as to how far Gordon Brown will change the Labour party. American readers will want to know where Brown will stand on issues such as Iraq, terrorism and the "special relationship" with the United States. The auguries are not bright.

Iraq

When Blair supported the US invasion of Iraq, Brown also gave his approval. However, as stated in the Washington Post there are signs that Tony Blair's close relationship with George W Bush will not be so tight under Brown. Certainly Brown appears closer to Democrats than he does to Republicans. Brown's Democrat friends include Robert M Shrum and Ted Kennedy. According to Reuters, Brown said on Friday that he would "learn from mistakes" made in Iraq. He spoke of political reconciliation and developing the economy in Iraq. He has said that he plans to visit Iraq soon.

The truth is that Brown has little support from Britain's military who regard him as "out of touch". Having talks about reconciliation and economic development while Iraq is engaged in a virtual civil war only illustrates his naive comprehension of the enormity of the military task which still needs completion. Brown made his first visit to Iraq in November last year. He talked to British troops in Basra in the south of the nation, where 7,200 are based. He told the BBC on Saturday: "I will continue to keep in touch with them and I will be visiting again fairly soon. I want to make my own assessment of the situation and to listen to what they have to say, to listen to what the troops have to say themselves and then to listen to what the authorities in Iraq have to say."

On the issue of troop withdrawal, Brown said: "I don't think at this stage you pre-set a date. From a situation where we had 44,000 troops in Iraq, it is now down to 7,000 and it will go down to 6,000 and it is coming down."

In December 2006, the recently retired head of UK armed forces, former Chief of General Staff Sir Michael Jackson complained that the government did not provide proper accommodation for troops. He said that they were supplied with unsatisfactory equipment. The blame for this is Gordon Brown's, as head of the Treasury.

A sign of how poorly the government has treated troops has been the way relatives of killed soldiers have been charged hundreds of pounds to buy copies of the documents which appear at inquests. Many inquests happen years after the deaths. Many working soldiers are poorly paid, but Gordon Brown has approved massive bonuses to bureaucrats who work in the comfort and safety of the Ministry of Defense.

In July 2004, Brown had announced vast sums of money to be spent on transport and home building while the Royal Air Force and Navy suffered cutbacks. Last August a report revealed that military finances were so bad that Dishforth air base in North Yorkshire could not afford to erect a security fence to protect its Apache attack helicopters.

In January 2007 it was revealed that Britain was spending proportionally less of its budget on defense - to a rate not seen since 1930. Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey spend more of their wealth on defense than Britain.

This month, it was revealed that over-stretching of time and resources has led the majority of Army officers to consider resigning. Liam Fox, shadow defense secretary, said: "It can only be hoped that any incoming Prime Minister will have a better understanding of the military than the current one, but given Gordon Brown's attitude towards the Armed Forces no one will be holding their breaths."

Islamic Terrorism

Gordon Brown has made many speeches, mostly on fiscal policy, over his 10 year career as Chancellor of the Exchequer. A collection of these can be found on the UK Treasury website. In 2001, a month after 9/11, Brown made a speech on the funding of terrorism.

In this speech, he noted that Britain had implemented UNSCR rulings on the Taliban (1267) and against bin Laden (UNSCR 1333) and had frozen 63 million pounds ($120 million) of funds, held in 35 accounts. He stated that on October 12, 2001, under the terms of UNSCR 1373, the UK Treasury had told British banks to freeze the accounts of 38 individuals and groups listed by the US as involved in terrorism.

Brown stated then that the UK was "actively supporting extension of UNSCR 1333 to include those listed by subsequent US executive Order, and on any future public lists." This policy has not been adopted. A prime example is the case of the UK charity Interpal, which claims to send money to Palestinians in need. Despite being designated by the US Treasury on August 22, 2003 as a terrorist organization under Executive Order 13224, Interpal continues to function. Even after two inquiries, and incontrovertible evidence that Interpal has channeled funds to terrorist group Hamas, the UK Treasury has made no moves to follow through on Gordon Brown's 2001 promise. Interpal even qualifies as a registered charity, (No 1040094) gaining tax exemption.

On February 13, 2006, Gordon Brown made another speech concerning terrorism, this time addressed to the Royal United Services Institute. He said that "recent studies show the pathway to violence often starts with contact with extreme material or extremist clerics - through the internet or videotapes from abroad - paving the way for later direct contact with - and sometimes visits to - with terrorist organisations and camps...."

"...it is by power of argument, by debate and by dialogue that we will, in the long term, expose and defeat this extremist threat and we will have to argue not just against terrorism and terrorists but openly argue against the violent perversion of a peaceful religious faith."

Gordon Brown spoke of a "global battle for hearts and minds" to combat radicalism and terrorism, and argued the need to "develop our military capabilities". He mentioned nothing about giving the necessary funds to provide these front-line military capabilities.

In this speech, Brown also spoke of needing "the best and strongest border controls" and claimed that "every year we successfully stop more than 40,000 suspicious people before they even board a boat, plane or train". With government figures acknowledging that there are now 570,000 illegal immigrants in Britain, it is obvious that border control policies are not working. The true figure for illegal immigration is probably much higher.

Brown claimed that "We should work to involve all parts of the British Muslim faith in ensuring that young Muslims have access to authoritative interpreters of Islam of their own generation and outlook."

An end result of this sort of idealistic thinking was the decision to start a government-funded website called the "Radical Middle Way", where government-approved "moderates" preach Labour Party approved interpretations of Islam. The Foreign Office and Home Office fund the site. Amongst all the PC Islam on display, tightly moderated to exclude any criticism in its "comments" section, the website has speeches by Tariq Ramadan. He even has his own page.

The US is in no doubt about the "moderate" nature of Professor Ramadan. He is barred entry, on account of his giving donations to Palestinian "charities" which support terrorism. Jean-Charles Brissard has written of Ramadan's links to terrorists.

Gordon Brown is misguided to assume terrorism can be eradicated by "dialogue". Islamic terrorism is caused by an extreme interpretation of an ideology whose ultimate goal is world domination. Islam has never been designed for any compromise of its basic precepts. Most Muslims are moderate, but Islamic terrorists and radicals are still adhering to Islamic principles. No amount of dialogue or launching of patronizing websites will change that.

Policies - what policies?

Brown has announced: "I want a debate across the country about our constitutional arrangements." He intends to set up seminars on the theme of "towards a consitutional settlement". Britain has no written constitution along the lines of that of the US. Under Blair, this lack of a constitution saw the Labour Party able to tamper with the make-up of the House of Lords, with no written constitutional guidelines to refer to.

If Brown's musing about a UK constitution seems like approval of the US system, remember that although Brown is pro-American, he is more in line with Al Gore than he is with President Bush. Since February 1 this year, anyone boarding a UK flight now has to pay twice as much in airport tax, APD or "air passenger duty". This is regarded as a "green tax", somehow to encourage less carbon emissions, which Brown and the Labour Party are convinced are causing global warming.

A large slice of this APD "green" tax will be siphoned off to fund African aid, rather than to stem the demonic carbon emissions caused by aircraft.

Brown has introduced many so-called stealth taxes. The Institute of Fiscal Studies reported in 2005 that government revenues had been raised by 2.1% of national income since Labour came to power in 1997. Brown has been accused at the weekend of raising 3 billion pounds from pension-funds by levying a stealth tax upon the letting of properties, owned by pension funds, which lie vacant for three months.

At his last budget, the basic rate of income tax was cut, but other taxes, such as "road tax" which is paid by all car owners, rose dramatically for owners of vehicles not considered "green". Brown intends to produce environmentally friendly homes in five new carbon-neutral "eco-towns" once in power. These "eco-towns" will almost certainly be situated in greenfield sites in the countryside, an environment that has already been severely degraded by Labour's home-building policies

Brown has most recently announced that in future, decisions to go to war will be made by parliament, rather than the Prime Minister alone, acting under what is called his (or her) "royal prerogative".

This decision suggests a moving away from the position of Tony Blair and the Iraq war - a calculated move to appeal to a public who are war-weary. It conveniently shows Brown as someone who is subtly suggesting that, should a situation similar to that which produced the Iraq war repeat itself, he will be "democratic" in any decisions. Even though Blair allowed MPs to vote on the invasion of March 19, 2003, and Brown supported him.

Brown's cohorts have been leaking details of this plan, which was rejected by a parliamentary committee in 2004. One said to the Observer newspaper: "Gordon is looking at transferring powers from the royal prerogative to Parliament. These are not changes that will be handed down: they will be subject to discussion. There would be safeguards to allow the executive to act immediately in emergencies where it is necessary to safeguard the lives of British forces."

Brown has said: "As a politician I have never sought the public eye for its own sake. I have never believed presentation should be a substitute for policy. I do not believe politics is about celebrity."

For someone with little public charisma, such a claim is defensive. Blair knew how to manipulate the media, and even when under stress, he could at least manage a semblance of sincerity. The days of "Cool Britannia" and other New Labour gimmicks have passed long ago. Brown said on Friday he would depart from such extrovert tendencies and lead a "humble" government.

The UK's special relationship with the US may cool slightly while someone so close to Democratic Party ideals leads Britain. Blair had been closer to Clinton's party than the Republican ethos when he came to power, but he adapted to accept and support George W Bush. Brown seems less able to adapt, and may be hoping that by the time he has to face a general election, a sympathetic Democrat may be sitting in the White House.

At present, Brown is touting his green credentials, assuming the UK public will automatically support him on this. Green energy schemes, such as wind turbines for example, are generally favored in principle but loathed in practice. These eyesores blight the landscapes they inhabit, slicing and dicing migratory birds without adding much power to the National Grid. Most British people have bought into the notion that global warming is directly caused by carbon emissions, assailed almost daily by alarmist news reports from the BBC and ITV. The Tory party under David Cameron is already committed to eco-policies and Cameron, like Brown, claims to be committed to the National Health Service. Brown needs to produce some truly revolutionary policies to inspire future voters to support him.

Brown told Reuters: "Perhaps I will soon be able to talk about things other than financial figures. I give news about the economy, and so the scope for great humour isn't really there. I can't just start cracking jokes about taxation."

The UK public has grown tired of Tony Blair, mainly on account of the seemingly endless situation in Iraq. Gordon Brown may produce a radical surprise, as he did on May 6, 1997 when he freed the Bank of England from government control. Brown's supporters - the "Brownites" - tend to be people who were snubbed or reprimanded by Blair. Gordon Brown's potential choices for a new cabinet are hardly inspiring, the lesser stars who never really shone under Tony Blair's leadership.

On Wednesday in parliament, Tory leader David Cameron claimed that Britain was currently under a "government of the living dead". It is unlikely that the brooding and socially awkward Gordon Brown will add much life to reinvigorate proceedings. Labour once buzzed to the strains of "Things can only get better". Now, they could hardly get much worse.

Adrian Morgan

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Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at May 14, 2007 4:44 PM

Comments

Posted by: keypointist at May 14, 2007 5:44 PM

Posted by: Al.R.O'Ackbar at May 14, 2007 7:39 PM

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