Bye, Bye - And Thanks For All The Fish (Again!)

Well, that was fun, wasn't it? We must do it again sometime.
"Bye, Tone! Take care. Oh, and good luck with the old Middle East thingy - just don't mention the war. You'll be fine, honest. The Arabs love you."
Yeah, right! Well, he's finally gone. Hey everyone, we can now start talking about him.
So, what DID he achieve in his 10 years exactly? Well, if you listen to him and his dinner party set, we are all now living in some sort of Nirvana, a near-Utopian Britain where there is freedom and equality for all, where we have an education system second to none, a health service restored to it glory days, crime has been slashed, the gap between rich and poor narrowed to the width of a credit card, our youth is the envy of the world, marching ever onward with respect, hope and dignity, and we are looked up to around the globe as the guardians of morality, freedom, fairness and justice.
Those of us not in NW1, however, unfortunately have windows - and we sometimes open them. Looking outside into the reality which is Britain quickly disabuses us of the notion that life has improved immeasurably under Blair. In truth, the gap between the haves and the have nots has widened considerably, crime is rampant, we have a youth and gang culture to terrify the Colombians, the NHS is in debt up to its proverbial testicles while doctors get paid more for doing less, there are still three accountants and managers for every nurse and more and more services and drugs have to be paid for or are unavailable.
Universities are now the preserve of the rich, as they were in my father's day, and the banks own all the graduates anyway. We have kids who can't spell, punctuate, add up or hold a conversation, let alone open a door for someone, and yet they are all getting A* A-Levels and the police and security services are being given carte blanche powers to arrest or just hold us without trial because of the constant threat of terrorism brought on by an illegal war which virtually everyone in this country knew was wrong before it even started!
Oh, I could go on, but I am boring myself, let alone you. Blair's Britain is just a continuation of Thatcher's, only it has disappeared even further down the U-bend of right and ultra-right-wing politics.
At least in Thatcher's day - God forbid I should give any credit to that harpie - there were alternatives. There was a LABOUR Party, with left-wing ideals, and there were the Liberals and Liberal Democrats taking the centre ground. All we have now, with the possible exception of the Lib Dems who are still trying to make a fist of things, is right-wing A or right-wing B, which is exactly the way the banks (who are now almost completely out of control), the City, the corporate giants, the fat cats, Murdoch and whoever is in charge in the U.S.A want it.
It will all change under Brown, however, won't it? Yeah, not many Benny. The unification of politics in this country under one right-wing, capitalist umbrella was proved when he set about choosing his dream team. First of all he welcomed into the fold, like a long lost brother, a raving Tory in the guise of Quentin Davies, a man of absolutely no political principals who just saw which way the wind was blowing and so wanted to save his own skin. Worse was to follow.
Guess who's Northern Ireland Secretary? It's only Shaun bloody Woodward, another Tory defector and well known millionaire whose treachery to his constituents and the democratic process has been rewarded.
The rest of the new dream team is just as sickening. I mean, David Miliband becomes Foreign Secretary!!
Jesus! I didn't think he was old enough to get a passport! If you think that's bizarre,
Miliband The Younger, aka Ed Miliband, has been named Cabinet Office Minister - and he's only seven!!! (seemingly)
Another of my favourites is Jacqui Smith. When Blair first got in she was a teacher in a provincial school. Six years later she started shinning up the greasy pole and was named deputy minster for women (impressive, huh?).
Two years after that she found herself as Minister for Schools (only because the old incumbent had lost his seat) and now.............she's bloody Home Secretary!!! You gotta admit, the girl done good!!
My old pal Harriet Harman got what was coming to her, however. No sooner had she triumphed in the farcical race for the deputy leadership of Labour than Brown announced he was scrapping the post anyway!!
At least she was a winner for once in her career - if only for 1.3 minutes. Her appointment as Commons Leader is the political equivalent of saying "Just sit over there and try not to make any noise".
One other worthy of mention is Peter Hain.
Sorry Wales, but you've got him - oh, and the work and pensions department as well. Our Pete was convicted of criminal conspiracy in 1972 and in later years was cleared of armed robbery. I say no more.
No, it's not looking good, is it? Those sunlit uplands we were all promised all those years ago are further away then ever. I don't know what to send to Grantham. It's getting that there would be preferable to here and so I might just send myself.....I said MIGHT.