Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Two reasons why Blair is finished

1. A Prime Minister with a majority of 66 is forced to rely on Conservative votes to get through a reform which he claimed would form a vital part of his legacy.

2. Labour's Treasurer is forced to launch an investigation into his own party's finances over accusations that loans were exchanged for peerages.

The Government has now lost all political and moral authority. Tony Blair came to power in 1997 on a tide of so-called Tory "sleaze" but it is now clear that his administration is the sleaziest since the original cash-for-honours scandal involving Lloyd George.

When Labour donors become so brazened that they stand up and demand to know "where's my peerage?" as Chai Patel did, it is clear we are living in a corrupt and decadent political culture.

Since 1997 Blair has made reform of the public services his number one priority - but in his increasing obsession with "marketisation" he has completely failed to carry his party with him.

New Labour's spin machine and its fawning acolytes in the national media will doubtless tell us otherwise tomorrow - but this Prime Minister is now holed below the waterline.

Andy Robinson = Harold Macmillan

Analogies between politics and rugby are relatively rare, but England coach Andy Robinson's decision to axe six players for Saturday's match against Ireland calls to mind Harold Macmillan’s Night of the Long Knives in 1962 when he sacked a third of his Cabinet – “the wrong third” according to Tory wits of the time.

Josh Lewsey appears to be taking the rap for the collision with Jamie Noon which led to the first French try. Yet Lewsey is a proven world class performer while Noon is merely a good premiership player who has been the persistent beneficiary of Robinson’s absurd favouritism.

Bringing in Stuart Abbott at inside centre is a start, but it would have been much better to have seen the hugely talented Ollie Smith alongside him.

Harry Ellis has been tried and failed at scrum-half – why isn’t Shaun Perry being given a chance? And why is that lolloping great tub of lard Ben Cohen still even in the squad?

Upfront, the return of Andrew Sheridan is a belated admission that it was wrong to drop him against France, but the back row still looks totally unbalanced. Moody should move to 6 with Sanderson or Lund at 7, while Chris Jones would be a much more useful back-row bench option than Dallaglio.

Macmillan’s purge failed to save his job in the longer-run, and this won’t save Robinson’s either. As someone said on Planet Rugby: "I've seen better selections left at the bottom of a Cadbury's Roses tin on Boxing Day."

English Parliament: Riddell joins the fray

Following on from Lord Hattersley's endorsement, Times columnist Peter Riddell has joined the debate over an English Parliament with this article in today's paper.

Although he is hostile to the idea, I think this is only going to prove my point that the English Question has now crossed over into the mainstream of political debate.

As well as being an excellent writer, Riddell is one of the real high-priests of the Whitehall political establishment and if this isssue is on his radar, then we can be sure that it is firmly on the establishment's radar.

As someone said on another blog: "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."