The jewel in the crown of Samizdata.net
A blog for people with a critically rational individualist perspective. We are developing the social individualist meta-context for the future. From the very serious to the extremely frivolous... lets see what is on the mind of the Samizdata people.

Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR
[Russ.,= self-publishing house]
There is much to find for those who look
We are not alone
Made possible by...
 
June 28, 2006
Wednesday
 
 
Putting the boot into Tony Blair
Perry de Havilland (London)  European Union • UK affairs

Want to see Tony Blair getting a political kick in the cobblers?

Sweet. Agree or disagree, it is nice to see some political hardball. UKIP thrive on such confrontations. It is hard to imagine the pointless milksops of the 'Conservative' Party getting stuck in like that.

Comments

Good lord. Look at Blair's smug grimace four fifths of the way through the feed. Unbelievable.


Posted by James Waterton at June 28, 2006 05:03 PM

BRILLIANT


Posted by permanent expat at June 28, 2006 05:08 PM

Marvellous!

I came across this earlier today. (Link)
It seems that even the brain-dead left are beginning to see what a dangerous man Blair is.


Posted by Rob at June 28, 2006 06:26 PM

Grayling has been consistently sound on civil liberty. This segment of his speech is worth quoting:

A couple of years ago, the International Herald Tribune ran an article, penned jointly by the unlamented David Blunkett and several other interior ministers of EU states, arguing for the proposition that the first duty of governments is to ensure their citizens' security. This is a falsehood, and a dangerous one. Their first duty is quite different: it is to protect their citizens' liberties.

Posted by guy herbert at June 28, 2006 06:42 PM

Wow. I wish we had someone like that in the U.S. Senate.


Posted by Blog Jones at June 28, 2006 07:03 PM
Want to see Tony Blair getting a political kick in the cobblers?

Asked and answered, surely!


Posted by Lizzie at June 28, 2006 07:09 PM

Why should British taxpayers be forced to pay for a subway in Warsaw? Why should they be forced to pay for one at all?

His heart's in the right place when he opposed European centrism, but he needs to examine his fundamental principles. If a Manchester taxpayer can be forced to pay the Tube, why not for Warsaw, as well?

- Josh


Posted by Wild Pegasus at June 28, 2006 07:10 PM

ouch.


Posted by Nate at June 28, 2006 07:19 PM
Why should British taxpayers be forced to pay for a subway in Warsaw? Why should they be forced to pay for one at all?

I completely agree! But first things first...


Posted by Perry de Havilland at June 28, 2006 08:38 PM

Excellent!!!


Posted by Johnathan at June 28, 2006 08:51 PM

Glad to see my decision to join the UKIP being fully justified!

Thanks for that link, Mr de Havilland.


Posted by GCooper at June 28, 2006 08:54 PM

That is a thing of pure and perfect beauty.

Anyone got Blair's response?

DK


Posted by Devil's Kitchen at June 28, 2006 09:01 PM

If a Manchester taxpayer can be forced to pay the Tube, why not for Warsaw, as well?

Josh, have you seen the figures for regional spending in England? There's a nice graph here courtesy of another appalling -- and useless -- drain on the public purse.

I think you will find that it is London taxpayers who are subsidising the Manchester trams, actually.

DK


Posted by Devil's Kitchen at June 28, 2006 09:08 PM

One smiles at the very idea of a taxpayer in Manchester. I am prepared to believe there is one. Anyone got the poor guy's phone number? We should all buy him a pint.


Posted by Tom Paine at June 28, 2006 10:02 PM

Nice.

But with all this being true, why has the man not been driven from office in disgrace?



Posted by Lexington Green at June 28, 2006 10:43 PM

But with all this being true, why has the man not been driven from office in disgrace?

Because a whole bunch of stupid bastards keep on voting for him.

BTW, excuse my ignorance on this matter, but who is the UKIP guy doing such a fine job?

DK


Posted by Devil's Kitchen at June 28, 2006 11:33 PM

And one just as good assault by Mr Farage on the EU Commissioners here (Link).

Enjoy.


Posted by Julian Taylor at June 28, 2006 11:35 PM

Just perused the UKIP's site. I'd support em if I were a Brit. Fantastic kick in the shins he gave there.


Posted by Mike Lorrey at June 29, 2006 01:29 AM

Greatest. Politician. Ever.


Posted by Secret Master at June 29, 2006 02:08 AM

Josh - Manchester does not pay for the Tube - Londoners have to pay for Manchester's Tram!


Posted by TimC at June 29, 2006 08:54 AM

Nice to see Farage is doing something other than chasing skirt. Those exchanges to make one say "yeah!" out loud. He certainly does not pull his punches.


Posted by Andrew Ian Dodge at June 29, 2006 11:13 AM

There are some good Conservative party "M.E.P.s" - for example the two from my own "region" of the East Midlands.

Although one of these two is Roger Helmer - who has the had the Euro Conservative whip withdrawn because he tried to expose the corruption of various E.U. people.

Mr Cameron (of couse) has just ratted on the one policy the Conservatives had to reduce the power of the E.U. - withdrawing from the "Common Fisheries Policy".

Mr Cameron latest speech is classic piece of dishonesty "let us repeal the Human Rights Act" but (errr) we stay under the European (not E.U. but it might as well be) Human Rights Convention - so the only effect of the policy would be to make people go to the European Human Rights Court - with any "British Bill of Rights" (Mr Cameron forgets the one of 1698) having to be "compliant" with the European Human Rights Convention.

As for the British people: They have a chance today.

In the United Kingdom parliamentary byelection caused by the death of Erik Forth the Conservative party candidate is the corrupt and and pro E.U. "three jobs Bob" (a man who thinks election law is for lesser beings) and the U.K.I.P. candaidate is the very Mr Farage that you show Perry.

Mr Farage has large posters in the town concerned and his literature has gone to all electors - so they can not claim not to know what the choice is.

Now let us see whose view of representative democracy is proved correct.

You (I believe) still cling to the idea that representative democracy works - I take a more cynical view.

As I have said - let us see.


Posted by Paul Marks at June 29, 2006 11:46 AM

1689 - not 1698.


I apologize for my crapness.


Posted by Paul Marks at June 29, 2006 11:48 AM

I’m told that the next couple of minutes is even better as Blair starts screaming at Farage. Anyone know where that piece is?


Posted by Tim Worstall at June 29, 2006 12:14 PM

BTW, excuse my ignorance on this matter, but who is the UKIP guy doing such a fine job?

What he said.

And exactly what is the UKIP? Last I heard, it was a group a rather unpleasant reputation for having attitudes that do not at all resemble what I saw in the clip.


Posted by rosignol at June 29, 2006 01:48 PM

Nigel Farage is God. He makes Blair and Cameron look like retarded, but vicious, monkeys. So what if he chases the ladies? And perhaps UKIP's "reputation" among those who don't take the trouble to look at their program is false and misleading. I'm sure that's not Blair's or Cameron's fault, though.


Posted by Robert Speirs at June 29, 2006 04:03 PM
unlike you[Blair], he [Chirac] stands up for the French national interest
Well, I think Farage's not really being fair at this point. Blair stands up for the French national interest in spades.

I too would like to see Blair's response to that timely haranguing.


Posted by James Waterton at June 29, 2006 04:22 PM

The efforts to discredit the U.K.I.P. take us into the world of the British security services.

Such organizations as the National Front and the British National Party have traditionally had a goodly number of people with security services links sent to join them. Such "inflitrators" are supposed to just warn of any criminal activity from members of these organizations - but they also work hard within them.

Not hard to understand - the British state benefits from having nasty racialist organizations (it gives it an excuse for various laws and other activties that it wants to put in place anyway).

With U.K.I.P. the idea was more complicated.

The idea being to spread the view that anyone who is against the E.U. is "racist". A lie spread by the whole establisment (inculding the disgusting "Dave" Cameron and the Chairman of the Conservative party Francis Maud).

So various ex B.N.P. people just happen to try and join U.K.I.P.

U.K.I.P. has worked very hard to keep them out - and to expell them if they slip in somewhere.

However, when one is dealing with the security services (and this is a security services operation) just exculding ex B.N.P. people is not enough.

Someone may come along with no racialist connections at all, denouce racialism (which they would need to to get in to U.K.I.P.) and then suddenly start saying the most nasty racialist things - in order for newspapers or broadcasters (such as the B.B.C.) to "expose" them.

This is way U.K.I.P. has to be so paranoid about people who want to be members and candidates - sad, but such is modern Britian.

It is also one of the reasons that U.K.I.P. keeps trying to increase the number of black and Asian members and candidates. I dislike such campaigns (I would prefer political parties to be "colour blind") but I can understand why U.K.I.P. is doing this.

By the way I am not a member of U.K.I.P.


Posted by Paul Marks at June 29, 2006 04:49 PM

If A Blair is the root of all evil, since, we're told, he retires next year or earlier, relax. He'll soon be gone.

(Tho why anyone thinks Big Broon will be much different I don't know.)


Posted by Karl Rove at June 29, 2006 05:54 PM

Why on earth is Farage not leader of UKIP?They have someone called -and now I have forgotten his name- and he is a complete nonentity -oh yes, Roger Knapman (presuamably because every time he speaks people fall asleep?)


Posted by niconoclast at June 29, 2006 06:14 PM

It's so entertaining to watch the British Parliament. So much more entertaining than to watch the U.S. Congress.


Posted by W. E. Messamore at June 29, 2006 08:54 PM

That's the European Parliament, not the British one. Anyone saying that in the British House of Commons would be slung out immediately, as much as the rest of us might support them.


Posted by Julian Taylor at June 29, 2006 09:41 PM

Down, Britons. I was just trying to think of two English cities, and Manchester and London were the first two I thought of.

- Josh


Posted by Wild Pegasus at June 29, 2006 10:16 PM

W. E. Messamore said:

It's so entertaining to watch the British Parliament. So much more entertaining than to watch the U.S. Congress.

Clearly you are very inexperienced at watching British parliamentary activity or you have just made a very clever and subtle observation.


Posted by James at June 29, 2006 10:34 PM
Tho why anyone thinks Big Broon will be much different I don't know

I doubt many people here think that... and certainly the UKIP guys in the video do not think that.


Posted by Albion at June 29, 2006 11:10 PM

Magnficient - he combines nativism, Europhobia and libertarianism. What more could we want?


Posted by Steve Edwards at June 30, 2006 02:05 PM

it's a pity this video doesnt show Blair's response. Anyone who's seen it will know that Farage was made to look a complete idiot. the side with the facts will always win, the side with empty rhetoric will always lose. and that is why UKIP lost this and most other debates on your europe.


Posted by jonathan roberts at July 23, 2006 02:14 PM

It is unbelievable how reality can be distorted if you only see one side of an argument. If you google this stuff, you will easily find the first half of the dispute, (where Blair looks like a fool, and the EU like shit) whereas the second part (with Blair's response) is nowhere to be found, even though it is absolutely brilliant. You should first see Blair's response, and only then form an opinion. Cheers.


Posted by Kevin White at September 11, 2006 07:14 AM

Kevin, replies like this are worthless without links. And moreover, the notion that there are always "two sies to every story" is just plain wrong. Everytime I hear an attack against racism, I do not also have to go hear the BNP or Ku-Klux-Klan side of the story to know what my opinions are. Similarly I do not have to hear how Blair actually replied to know exactly what he said and the fact I dsagree with him.

But the whole point is that this NOT the argument being made but rather that people just do not confront Blair like that ideologically in Parliament these days.


Posted by Perry de Havilland at September 11, 2006 01:36 PM
Post a comment









Remember personal info?


Enter anti-spambot Turing code:





Select some text and click this to format it as a quote Make the selected text bold Make the selected text italic Add a web link


Basic html active.

Alas, but for obscure reasons Mozilla, Mac and Linux users shall not harness to power of the push-button formatting options and shall therefore compose basic html with their bare hands. Yet Mozilla, Mac and Linux users shall not fear, for we shall reveal forthwith the mysteries of Basic Html:

<strong>This text in-between is bold</strong>

<em>This text is in italics</em>

And
<blockquote>This is a quote</blockquote>
Remember to close your opened tags as such: <tag> tagged text and closing </tag> and we promise you will get out of here alive.

For adding links, either use the link URL button on the toolbar or enter your code by hand in the following format:
<a href="http://www.your_link.com">your link text or description here</a>

Movable Type's anti-spambot e-mail address protection is enabled.

You are a guest on private property. Have fun but please be civil and succinct. Blogroaches will be persecuted, not to mention IP banned.

Long third party quotes or articles will also be deleted... so just link to articles you think are germane to your comment, don't quote the whole bloody thing.