See my recent remarks about the two former PMs of the UK, a joint effort from Consrvatives and the Blairites to save Britain from losing Atlantic influence in Europe. The military vanguard for the US and NATO across Europe and the globe after the intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Whitehall and white washing seem to be natural allies …
[Most links added are mine – Oui]
Blair and Major don’t deserve this venom for joining Brexit debate | The Guardian – Opinion |
When Stanley Baldwin retired from the premiership in 1937, his approach was to put himself on mute. He made a promise: “I am not going to speak to the man on the bridge and I am not going to spit on the deck.”
Ex-prime ministers can be valuable repositories of experience and advice. If a former leader of the country thinks Britain is in danger of taking a hazardous road, I’d say they not only have a right to speak out, they have a responsibility.
So I am pleased that Tony Blair and Sir John Major have just broken Baldwin’s rule. Both men have decided that they do need to speak to the woman on the bridge. Both have issued warnings to Mrs May about the perils of hard Brexit. Both have suggested that a second referendum should not be ruled out. Both have been accused of spitting on the deck.
The former Tory prime minister, who can also turn a telling phrase when he puts his mind to it, argues that “the tyranny of the majority” cannot simply dictate the terms of exit, especially not on an issue of such gravity and when a very large minority voted the other way.
The venomous response they have received from the Brextremists is revealing. That tells us something about the insecurity that lurks beneath their braggadocio. If the terms of the divorce are going to be as sweet as the Brexiters keep promising, why does it strike such fear into their hearts whenever anyone floats the notion that it might be put before the British people for approval?
Blair is planning to launch an organisation at the beginning of next year and a large part of the impulse for doing so comes from the belief that a Corbyn Labour party and a Brexiteering Conservative party means “you’ve got millions of effectively politically homeless people”, as he recently told Jason Cowley of the New Statesman.
The Chilcot report reveals everything we’ve forgotten since 1945
MPs launch new attempt to interrogate Tony Blair over Iraq
A cross-party group of MPs will make a fresh effort to hold Tony Blair to account for allegedly misleading parliament and the public over the Iraq war.
The move, which could see Blair stripped of membership of the privy council, comes as the former prime minister tries to re-enter the political fray, promising to champion the “politically homeless” who are alienated from Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour and the Brexit-promoting government of Theresa May.
The group, which includes MPs from six parties, will put down a Commons motion calling for a parliamentary committee to investigate the difference between what Blair said publicly to the Chilcot inquiry into the war and privately, including assurances to then US president George W Bush.
Backing the motion are Alex Salmond, the SNP MP and former first minister of Scotland; Hywel Williams, Westminster leader of Plaid Cymru; and Green party co-leader Caroline Lucas.
Senior Tory and Labour MPs are also backing the move, which reflects widespread frustration that the publication of the Chilcot report in July, after a seven-year inquiry, did not result in any government action or accountability for Blair.
More below the fold …
Theresa May has told nearly 800,000 Poles living in the UK that she “wants and expects” them to remain in the country after Brexit and condemned “shameful” post-referendum attacks during a visit to Poland.
< photo >
Poland 'shocked' by xenophobic abuse of Poles in UK – use of word 'vermin' meaning genocide
Speaking in Warsaw, the Prime Minister spoke out against the “despicable” hate crimes Poles have suffered in the wake of the Brexit vote last month.
She also promised to “always” fulfil Britain’s obligations to Nato despite leaving the EU after UK troops were deployed to counter the threat of Russia in Eastern Europe.
- ○ Diplomacy post-Brexit: the UK sidelined and Nato damaged | LSE |
○ Liam Fox Says EU Nationals Are Key Negotiation ‘Card’ In Brexit Talks With Europe
○ Polish PM calls for ‘good compromise’ on Brexit
See my recent diary – EU/NATO Propaganda It’s About Daesh and Russia [Update5].
