10.9.02 @ 12:04AM
In London, it's a regular Peccadillo Circus.
LONDON -- Jay Leno and David Letterman would have a couple of
weeks' worth of merriment at the expense of British politicians if
their shows were on the air here. The most recent woes of the
politicos began with the news that Lord Jeffrey Archer, one-time
promising Conservative office holder and a popular novelist,
frequently left his minimum security prison for luncheons in a
nearby town; then most recently, attended a champagne soiree while
on home leave (he was in the slammer for falsely suing for libel).
Then came the bombshell that demure and proper former Prime
Minister John Major had carried on a four-year affair with a highly
ambitious Tory woman politician while he was a whip in Margaret
Thatcher's government. The woman, one Edwina Currie, dropped the
bomb in her well-paid memoirs, just released.
Poor Iain Duncan Smith, chairman of the Conservative Party, just
completing his first year. Like our Democrats, he's had a terrible
time getting traction on any issue. Tony Blair has him blocked on
the right, with his get-Saddam stance, and he hasn't been able to
get anyone to believe he can do a better job than Labour on health
care and education, despite the fact the Labour government is
getting low marks in these areas. On the eve of the Conservatives'
annual conference, a poll of regional party leaders showed less
than a majority thought IDS, as he's called, had accomplished much
of anything in his first year.
John Major's political reputation -- as it was -- went
pffft overnight. The scandal reminded one and all that it
was in the latter years of his government that ministers, deputy
ministers and other high officials were revealed to have succumbed
to the Clinton Syndrome -- roving eyes and loose zippers. Most
dalliances were with women, some with men, one was solo by an
apparent suicide found on the floor of his flat clad only in
ladies' pantyhose. The British have long taken eccentricity in
stride, but this abundance of outré behavior on the part of
so many leaders in a party which claims to be the soul of
rectitude, was too much. Tony Blair coopted the issues, the Tories
were out, and the rest has been history.
Not quite. On the eve of Labour's annual conference, the
Daily Telegraph commissioned a new poll to find out how
Blair & Co. were doing with the electorate. Not so well. On the
question of "Britain's public services -- things such as the
National Health Service, education and public transport-- have:
Gotten better (17%), Gotten worse (51%), Stayed the same (30%)."
Asked if the government was delivering or not delivering key
issues, there was more bad news for Labour: "Improving the health
service (27+, 67-), improving the quality of education (27+, 67-),
improving public transportation (9+, 85-)." These are issues New
Labour used to come into power and keep it.
Tony Blair, personally, is not tarnished by this voter
dissatisfaction. He comes out with very high marks as to
competency, decisiveness, "caring," effectiveness and likability.
While his close association with George Bush on the matter of Iraq
is not widely popular, he has enough political capital in the bank
to spend some of it in the area of statesman.
Labour draws its support from urban dwellers, trade unions and
intellectuals. Country people do not count for much in its plans.
The frustration of country folk boiled over two weekends ago with a
march on London by -- according to authorities -- an estimated
400,000 persons. We met several of them during this visit and they
are people not given to protests in the streets. Not, that is,
until this time. They complained that the BBC gave their march
almost no coverage, but amply covered a left-wing anti-war protest
of much smaller size the following weekend. This should come as no
surprise, given the long-time leftward tilt of the BBC.
The fight over Labour's proposed ban on fox hunting is the
ostensible issue with the country folk, but they see it in larger
terms, as a fight for farming and country values. Even Prince
Charles weighed in with some private letters to Labour ministers
expressing concern for country ways. These letters were promptly
leaked to the press. The protesters and the prince have a point,
but it is unlikely they will get any relief from Westminster.
topics:
Transportation, Education, Trade, Iraq, Oil, Unions
