Blair vows to stay the course after British election set-back

http://www.eubusiness.com/afp/040611204232.6y8rj565

Britain's embattled Prime Minister Tony Blair vowed to stay the course Friday despite a worse-than-expected drubbing for his Labour party in local council elections in England and Wales.

Heading home from the Group of Eight summit and the funeral of former US president Ronald Reagan, Blair could take consolation in the re-election of London's mayor Ken Livingstone under the Labour banner.

But more bad news could come his way Sunday when the results of European Parliament elections, also held Thursday, are announced.

Speaking in Washington before his flight back to London, Blair acknowledged that his decision to take Britain into the Iraq war was a big reason why Labour had lost more than 450 local council seats.

<snip>

"In respect of the basic performance of the government, I think our response should be to make sure we carry through and implement the radical programme we have introduced," he said.

...more...

I still got MY job!

With a side of lies.

Everyone disagrees with you? Stay the course. The facts show you're wrong? Stay the course. You make mistake after mistake and tell lie after lie? Stay the course.


On Edit -- how the Hell can Blair "take solace" in Livingston's re-election? The Mayor of London has been a BIG critic of poodle boy and especially his support for the Iraq War and Occupation.

Here are hundreds of thousands of voters turning out to tell Bliar they do not trust him and do not like what he has done, and he ignores them. As usual.

Buzzwords for the Bushies. At least they're all reading from the same script. :eyes:

Prime Minister Tony Blair has arrived back in the UK as Labour licks its wounds following a disastrous performance in the local council elections.

Last night, before leaving the US where he had attended the G8 summit and the funeral of Ronald Reagan, Mr Blair appealed to his party to hold its nerve after it crashed to third place behind the Liberal Democrats.

It is believed to be the worst performance by a governing party in a mid-term election.
<snip>

He said that a "shadow" had been cast over the elections by the war in Iraq.
<snip>

http://www.itv.com/news/1137700.html


Makes me all sniffly and teary-eyed ...

I'm sure my friend in Wales is hoisting a pint tonite!

to all those councillors who've just been turfed out of office for nothing more than Blairs Iraq adventure. Alot of these councillors have done fantastic work at the grassroots level and have been making a real difference in education, policing, transport, social services, housing etc etc. Blair has allowed all this to be put at risk due to his continued arrogance and hubris.

Even with a strong economy (masterminded entirely by Gordon Brown - now there's a PROPER Labour politician), I'm not sure Blair can now win a general election next yr, and this is something I hope is being weighed up even now within the party.

I can already hear Shane MacGowan howling out the lyrics to Pete Seeger's "Waist Deep In The Big Muddy." (You know, the part where "the big fool says push on.")

:beer:
dbt