2008 Woodie Awards
Tony Blair's Likely Replacement Will Make U.S. War on Terror a Lonelier One
Jack Strayer
Issue date: 4/3/06 Section: Opinion
Tony Charles Lynton Blair's decision not to seek a fourth-term as British Prime Minister is bad news indeed for 61 million Britons and 298 million Americans. And it is a major blow to the great Atlantic alliance so carefully constructed by another British Prime Minister and stalwart friend of America, Winston Churchill.
Blair won elections by landslides in 1997 and 2001, and again by a substantial majority in May 2005. With his Labor Party holding a huge majority in Parliament, he would seemingly be a shoo-in for a fourth-term, but he recently told his nation he will not stand for re-election as leader of his party.
His replacement is a dour Scotsman named Gordon Brown, current chancellor of the exchequer. Brown is everything Blair is not. Blair is moderate on the environment; a firm believer in well-regulated free enterprise; skeptical of the sluggish, entrenched socialist economies of France and Germany; astute enough to know that British prosperity depends on being competitive in an unforgiving global marketplace.
Brown has an unshakeable belief that governments were conceived to shape citizens and society according to basic Labor Party doctrine - by incentives if possible, by an iron hand if necessary.
Like most of the dyed-in-the-wool leftists who constitute Labor's controlling echelons, Brown vehemently disagrees with Blair's pro-American stance and his commitment of more than token British forces in Iraq. It is debatable as to whether Brown would toss aside Blair's military commitments to President Bush, but it is a near-certainty that he will not make any fresh commitments himself.
And Brown would be far less likely than Blair to support the United States on key votes in the United Nations affecting the war on terrorism.
Brown apparently believes an environmental Armageddon is nigh, and the tenth budget he unveiled as chancellor of the exchequer earlier this month contains large tax increases to set things right. His new budget calls for levies on of up to the $366 a year on low-mileage vehicles like SUVs, minivans and full-size sedans.
Blair won elections by landslides in 1997 and 2001, and again by a substantial majority in May 2005. With his Labor Party holding a huge majority in Parliament, he would seemingly be a shoo-in for a fourth-term, but he recently told his nation he will not stand for re-election as leader of his party.
His replacement is a dour Scotsman named Gordon Brown, current chancellor of the exchequer. Brown is everything Blair is not. Blair is moderate on the environment; a firm believer in well-regulated free enterprise; skeptical of the sluggish, entrenched socialist economies of France and Germany; astute enough to know that British prosperity depends on being competitive in an unforgiving global marketplace.
Brown has an unshakeable belief that governments were conceived to shape citizens and society according to basic Labor Party doctrine - by incentives if possible, by an iron hand if necessary.
Like most of the dyed-in-the-wool leftists who constitute Labor's controlling echelons, Brown vehemently disagrees with Blair's pro-American stance and his commitment of more than token British forces in Iraq. It is debatable as to whether Brown would toss aside Blair's military commitments to President Bush, but it is a near-certainty that he will not make any fresh commitments himself.
And Brown would be far less likely than Blair to support the United States on key votes in the United Nations affecting the war on terrorism.
Brown apparently believes an environmental Armageddon is nigh, and the tenth budget he unveiled as chancellor of the exchequer earlier this month contains large tax increases to set things right. His new budget calls for levies on of up to the $366 a year on low-mileage vehicles like SUVs, minivans and full-size sedans.