Date: Fri, 24 Jan 1997 15:13:24 +1000 (EST) From: Gary MacLennan <g.maclennan-AT-qut.edu.au> Subject: M-I: Odder thoughts on Britain My month in Ulster gave me the opportunity to catch up on British newspapers and television. I also got up to date with what is going on or not going on in Ireland and I amy post on this soon. suffice to say that everyone in Ulster is waiting for Blair. The Labour Party is so far ahead in the polls, and the Tories are is such disarray that I must be the only one who thinks that Major can beat Blair. In my mind's eye the Tories are like the "corpse" in a Stephen King book who suddenly revives and grabs you by the ankle, provoking untold terror. I am also inclined to agree with Tom Nairn's observation that England the real England is irredeemably tory. Apart from this what makes me think blair can still be beaten is that he is not contesting hegemony in any way. The Tories have but to accuse him of something and he will rush to change it. He is perpetually on the defensive. Perpetually trying to prove he is not a socialist. Thus as I was waiting for my plane I had the great joy of hearing the leader of British labour Saying that he supported a policy of zero tolerance of homelessness. There are not words strong enough to express my contempt for this little shit. What we desperately need is a policy of zero tolerance for the wealthy and instead we get this -The poor as Public Enemy No 1-. Prescott the left apologist for Blair was on trying to excuse or cover for his leader. I did get a laugh out of Blair though. He went on a popular tv chat show to try and show he was human. He told a story about smuggling on board a plane for the Caribbean when he was a schoolboy. How daring of the leader! His dad though sort of spoiled it all by saying it wa a load of nonsense and never happened. The spin doctors it seems perceive a problem with Blair and are anxious to link him to the people. Of course the petty bourgeois bastards have no idea how to. There was also a serious critique of Blair's politics from I suspect Will Hutton in an Observer editorial. Basically Hutton wants Labour elected but worries that Blair is so right wing that he may not launch the sort of Keynesian program necessary to revive British industry. I have no idea what the working class will make of all this. I suspect they are ignoring Blair and just want the Tories out. The defeat of the Tories will still represent something of a victory for the working class, though the struggle against the Labour government if one should eventuate will be particularly bitter. regards Gary --- from list marxism-international-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
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