BLAIR, BLAIR, BLAIR

And so Tony Blair has been elected for a third term as the Prime Minister in Britain. A touch of the John Howard’s – although Howard is a Liberal and Blair is Labor.

I make the comparison because both men have been to the polls in the past six months and nobody can lay a glove on them. It is true that Blair’s majority has dropped but he got back in for a third term.

Like John Howard he was called a liar. Like Howard he was castigated about the decision to go to war in Iraq. He was part of the triumvirate of the “Coalition of the Willing”. Britain, the United States and Australia.

And even though the war in Iraq – and the relentless brutality of suicide bombers since-- has reduced support from people in all three countries I still ask the question: Were we wrong?

I don’t think so. Saddam Hussein, the brutal murdering dictator, is now in prison. His sadistic murdering sons are now dead. The people of Iraq have now held genuine elections. This week they actually convened a Parliament. Something unheard of in that country for decades.

I truly believe, despite the violence, that Iraq is a beacon now for democracy in the Middle East. There is a real chance that Israel and the Palestinians can find that road to peace that has been talked about so much in Washington. There is a chance that some democracy can evolve in places like Saudi Arabia. And it is all NOT just about the oil.

Going back to the British elections: despite the growing antipathy to the war in Iraq, and the reasons why Tony Blair went in there, his re-election today shows yet again that it is home issues that provide winners and losers in federal elections.

Things like health and education and law and order. That’s what Joe Blow votes for or against.

People vote for a quality of life. If you are reasonably happy you are not going to vote a government out. And remember. You vote governments out…. You don’t vote governments in.

Friday, May 6, 2005

©Copyright Derryn Hinch 2005