God save Tony Blair
Labour Supporter on BBC News website:
"Step down Tony Blair, we don't support and respect you! "
One has to question how a labour suppporter of sound mind can propose such a thing when the Prime Minister secured a party Majority in the debate in the commons.
My position remains firmly behind the Prime Minister and the impassioned and intelligent speeches by Jack Straw and Tony Blair strengthened my resolve.
During the debate one MP called for the Prime Minister's speech to be distrubuted to the whole of britain as it had convinced him for the rightness of military action. I fear most of the people who are anti-war will not have taken the time to watch the debate in the house yesterday. Nor will they consult Hansard for the relevant points of the discussion.
Its really pretty grim when you watch the whole debate and then walk through past the BBC News 24 TV and see brilliant quotes taken way out of context and some idiot trying to divine (unsuccessfully, I might add) the mood of the house and how the debate was going.
Anyhow 412 to 149 is by parliamentary standards a hefty kicking of opposition, especially for a bill which authorizes conflict.
There are students protesting at the moment according to BBC News, but not student students, Sixth form students, Secondary students. Now I'm sorry but although democratic voice should be afforded to all, there is a reason why people below the age of 18 are not allowed to vote under the authorities of our constitution, it is the same reason why minors cannot enter into certain contracts it is because in law they are not considered to have the mental capacity to take responsibility for their actions.
Given that half the protesters I saw were not actually of Voting age I wonder how they can justify a cry of "Shame on you, Shame on you, Shame on Shame on Shame on you" to MP's who voted with their hearts and minds for the bill and actually took what was an immensely difficult decision to vote with their consciences, as Jack Straw said at the beginning of the debate, reaffirming his previous position; "Noone in this house has a monopoly on wisdom or morality" and everyone voted as a matter of their personal belief, the whips were hardly taken into account.
Shame on you for playing truant, why not let those who can actually take responsibility for taking time out do the protesting, like a banker who will suffer at his job for it. What they do is an act of sacrifice, of their pay, of their prospects. What you do is simply illegal and I've got to laugh when I see pictures of some of you getting arrested for disorderly conduct and truancy :)
Including that git who decided to shout from the public gallery for a full 5 minutes, at high volume during the debate yesterday. If you want to view a parliamentary session then you have to abide by the rules of the house which apply to you, ie: no audible talking which might disrupt the debate, no clapping, no cat calling etc.
Its hard to stop yourself, I watched the whole 9 hours or so and joined in with "Hear Hear!" and "Absolutely" despite the fact that I had noone to talk to but the fact that I couldn't stop myself shows that I rightly know I shouldn't have attended and that my little webcast is better suited to a more vociferous viewer.
Overall the best thing about the debate is how the cut and thrust of british politics is played out. It really is the most interesting system in the world. In America you just have 2 parties as one, the Republicrats; both with identical policies but simply painted in different ways. In Italy you have a vast gap between the main parties in terms of beliefs which ultimately leads to fractious and foolish debate. But over the years it seems England got the thing right. I think its a credit to the evolutionary nature of our constitution but if you listen to a parliamentary debate you are sure to be entertained. Some of the rebuttal was brilliant and you can easily pick out those who are at ease, who are brilliant debaters, those who thrive in the unique environment of the commons: Blair, Jack Straw, Robin Cook, William Hague (odious though he is) Anne Clwyd (although on this occasion she was quite reserved).
So now its war. I believe it will be quick and I certainly hope will be carried out with minimal loss of life. 'Chemical Ali' will face our boys as we're undoubtedly going to be given a primary role in taking Basra but such is the absolute excellence of the English armed forces that what we'll see will be an utter decimation of the loosely deployed Iraqi forces outside of Baghdad. The Desert Rats is the only tank company in the world capable of firing a tank of the caliber of the Challenger 2 on the move without stopping.
My prayers are particularly with the 16th Air Assault Brigade (the paras) as our next door neighbours, a young couple called Jo and Gary, are attached to them (Jo is a field medic).
My prayers are also with the Iraqi people. The problem with the Anti-War protest seems to be their reliance upon an old standby of conflict - the death count of the indigenous people. I would have thought that having listened to all the intentions issued by the armed forces and leaders they might have gathered our intention is not to "Bomb the iraqi people" but to debilitate the structure of political and military command of Saddam's Baath party. In addition to which the Iraqi military are given clear and simple ways in which to signal surrender. Conscripts need not be killed unnecessarily and given that there is both a Lawyer and a political advisor sitting on the Target Selection committee there should be no mistakes as to targeting either civilian structures or structures which are surrounded by a high civilian density.
I think what s most important is that I have faith in the leaders of this country, irrespective of what I might think about George Bush I have the upmost respect and belief in the intentions of Tony Blair. There is a rising wave of cynicism in England and people seem to forget just what a great and moral man Mr. Blair is, its a symptom of the "Tall Poppy Syndrome" that seems to have been so liberally distributed in contagion throughout the UK. You build someone up so you can watch them fall from a much higher height when you cut them down. They do it to everyone but it saddens me particularly when the victim is a man so principled, so good and so much the greatest leader this country has seen since Churchill. Mr Blair has my continued respect and support.
Later
John
Posted by John Swaine at March 19, 2003 12:34 PM