Mr Blair,
It is too late now to come on all softly softly, all caring and apologetic
for just wanting to get things done. You have squandered our trust.
We elected you to take us away from Tory policy. All we've seen is more
of the same - same
colour tie, same policies favouring the rich, powerful and the corporate.
It hasn't gone unnoticed that you've continued to squash just about
every freedom of local decision-making out of local government, and
now seem intent on
squashing any form of dissent, including views contrary to your own
prefered
version of events on BBC radio.
It's true that things have changed and we have your vision and managerial
determination to thank for that. In one of the world's richest countries,
students now leave university burdened with debts. A State pension and
the right to Retirement is being abandoned. The railway infrastructure
sold to private enterprise turned out (as warned) to be a recipe for
disaster. You relentlessly
privatise - schools, hospitals, post office, the contracting out of
local public services. Unphased by public concern you whittle away the
magnificent achievements of our post war predecessors - a welfare state
that belonged to the people and supported people regardless of their
ability to pay. We used to get free milk at school.
You led us into a war and dismissed the suggestion the coalition wanted
control of Iraq's oil. Then we noted the stark inconsistency when US
troops gave full protection to Iraq's ministry of oil, whilst allowing
the national banks, national museum, hospitals and other government
buildings to the looted and burnt. We watched you talk earnestly about
the threat of weapons of mass
destruction to audiences on TV and were certain that the intelligence
you were drawing on (but obviously couldn't give the details of) must
be accurate... then we learned that No10 was refering to and briefing
press using intelligence which turned out to be a student's essay off
the internet.
So don't talk to us about values Mr Blair. If there is one value that
obviously isn't pervasive amongst your little clique at no 10, it is
that of respect. Your actions tell us that you'd rather we lived burdened
with debt, uncertain
of any retirement, increasingly unable to effect any real changes in
the way public money is spent (our money as it happens) and increasingly
unable to make choices about our health and welfare and the future of
our children unless we happen to have high levels of income and mobility.
These changes aren't what we asked for Mr Blair and more spin spin
spin and more choice choice choice for the well to do, won't alter the
fact that 'new labour' has shown total disrespect for the values of
social justice which more voters than you imagine expected from a 'labour'
term in government.
The real betrayal isn't the weapons of mass destruction at all - it
is this. You, Mr Blair, are a TORY. This means that unless backbenchers
are able to reclaim the labour party from Alastair Campbell's iron grip,
the UK population now lives with the prospect of Thatcher policies in
perpetuity.
It's dishonest, it's theft and it's making a lot of people angry -
and when a new leader emerges, you'll need more than Alistair Campbell
to cover your tracks.
Gordon Glass
Arbury, Cambridge
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