with the NHS were all left with our own subjective experiences but I would think it is considerably better than under the likes of Virginia Bottomley, the Tory’s Health Secretary (who I remember in a TV interview said that London had too many hospital beds, when clearly it didn’t have enough)

from my own experience, I think it is a bit mixed, St Thomas’s hospital still has grime in the corners on the floor and much of the money seems to have been spent on new Dell PCs (many of which were stolen soon after installation, it didn’t occur to them to put in some decent security locks at the same time), the inflexible computerised booking system is often supplemented by a A3 diary wielded by the receptionist, an example of poor design and million wasted.

and even if you get to be seen on time and the service is okay, you are then left with the problem of MRSA

even if the NHS were to become a health conveyor belt, treating thousands and thousands of people a week, if they stand a fair chance of catching MRSA or other infections whilst in hospital

my experience suggests that Blair’s NHS has been marred by poor central management, incompetent local management, internal markets, PFI initiatives and quasi-privatisation, driven by statistics and money wasted on capital expenditure with little tangible benefit

it is a pretty silly situation to be in, given the billions and billions that had been spent (much of it seemingly wasted) and still they can not clean hospitals sufficiently, or stamp out MRSA,

perhaps they should learn from the Scandinavian countries?

And, Blair, well he is a Liberal spin politician like any other. Has he achieved anything? I don’t know! Ask his aids. Politics is a space of time and in this time frame these things happened. Only history will tell whether the war with Iraq was the right thing to do.

We have had the Iraq war and Saddam was a tyrant. We have had terrorism, and some would say there is no doubt that our foreign policy is a cause of UK Home Grown terrorism. We still have no answers as to why these terrorists do not want to be British.

“^^ I’m not sure what people expect a Prime Minister to be able to do.”

To be honest, we did not expect this one to leave the country and its citizens sapped.

By all means do the possible. But in his case I dream some of the things he has done had remained impossible.

I would agree with you there.

But so is exploitation. It is “the art of the possible” as well.

Dreaming the impossible does not of course make it possible. Whoever said that? However a dream (whether possible or impossible) is an unimplemented plan; and only then until it is implemented. Taking things further – impossible dreams are only impossible in hindsight. I could go on…

The Blair years were not the action of one man but the action of many and the inaction of many.

Education, Education, Education was Blairs big idea – pity he never followed it up , becasue if he had, the people of this country would be able to think for themselves and not have to relie on rehashed opinion formers to make their minds up for them.

Inders – sorry I was rude earlier. Its just this whole Blair resigning and the way it is being reported has got me riled up – and Marialla Fostrup on “This week” last night nearly got me smashing up my brand new wide screen TV!!!

Justforfun

You keep dreaming of the impossible and see how much ‘good’ you get done.

Justforfun

Justforfun

I prefer grown-up politics with manipulation and lies and spin and media. I know those things are real.

Ha ha that’s so funny – really it is. I wish Stalin was alive today – because you at least knew where you stood with him. I liked Maggie Thatcher because you at least knew where you stood with her. I like grown up politics with manipulation and lies and spin and media – because you know where you stand. HA Ha Ha – you really are funny . On a serious note – you should not be allowed to vote – you don’t know your arse from your elbow. you’ve just said you like being lied to so why bother to vote – give it to someone who does care.

The only time Blair really failed was when he gave into concepts such as ‘doing good in the world’.
No – he failed because he is surrounded by failures. New Labour is not one man, it is a class of people who have acquiesed in his actions, while the electorate have been far too lenient and forgiving. Being lenient and forgiving are admirable qualities and to hope and trust in someone are good qualities, but in hindsight, this was not an appropriate occasion.

See the graph – we knew in our hearts by mid 2000 that New Labour was a sham, we just could not let go of the dream and admit it to ourselves. Labour Party MPs should have acted then but they liked the official limos too much.

I didn’t realise that New Labour invented the rich, nor did i realise that they made entire sections of society self serving. I’ve always thought that every section of society is self serving. Put words in my mouth if it makes you feal better. Just don’t try and think when your own mouth is full. Prawn sandwich anyone?

You don’t get it – the rich are New Labour ( or at least they were, but now they are moving to new Tory). That is why the traditional Tory Party is frantically trying to be like the New Labour franchise – as they see that as the way to also get some meat off the carcass that is this country. Politics is not about ideologies now , but rather about how the modern political establishment and business can fleece us. I think old fashioned ideas about service , be it old Labour and old Tories or old Liberals is long dead.

I personnally don’t want my children growing up in veal crates as units of production. But hey – can I put some words in your mouth? If it suits you, you can stay in a stagnent world of bullshit – you have obviously have developed a taste for it – its all right by me, no skin off my nose – I’m alright – set up for life I am.

It’s natures curse that we love our children more than we love other children.

Sid – idiot-worshippers – better than my medication – brilliant.

Justforfun

And he’s a veritable god to the idiot-worshippers.

He gets terrorism, he gets that it’s not all_our_fault. He understands 9/11 happened before the Iraq war.

Gordon Brown? Now there’s a cause for concern.

Inders – Indeed I am old enough to remember the Thatcher years. Would that I wasn’t.

Unfortunately, Mr Blair, who swept to victory carrying the hopes of the nation on his shoulders, failed dismally to produce the goods.

The NHS is in the same parlous state that it was 20 years ago, except that the hospitals are noticeably grubbier, and your GP now has less choice over which consultant you should see. Similarly the services offered by my GP’s practice during fund-holding, counselling and acupuncture to name but two, are now either not available, or only available at a greatly reduced amount.

All that has happened is that systems are now in place to deceive us into thinking that improvements have taken place.

I considered that Baroness Thatcher was the worst thing that ever happened to this country. Mr Blair has done nothing to make things only get better.

I prefer grown-up politics with manipulation and lies and spin and media. I know those things are real. The only time Blair really failed was when he gave into concepts such as ‘doing good in the world’.

I didn’t realise that New Labour invented the rich, nor did i realise that they made entire sections of society self serving. I’ve always thought that every section of society is self serving.

The last ten years have been a disgraceful squandering of the social capital and wealth of this nation. Its never been a better time to be a millionaire/billionaire in Britain, but for the rest its a future of tired misery. And now. IF the values of Britain ever stood for anything, they definately stand for NOTHING. Our ability to do good in this world is now zero. We might as well admit it and become like Switezerland – the playground for the corrupt robber barons of this world, and this society can their personal bodyguards. 300 hundred years of collecting the world’s capital, intellectual and material and achieving progress by fair and foul means has been squandered and pissed away – for what? To make sure a squalid Labour Party and Conservative Party and their repective media chatterati can continue to manipulate us? to maintain their bullshit lifestyles?

I don’t blame Blair – he is afterall only there because the Labour party has been eaten out from the inside by the self serving sections of British society and they want him to remain as they rape this country and its pretty tolerant stoic majority.

I think I’ll go back onto my medication now

Justforfun