That Special Relationship
At the request of the Rt. Hon. Anthony Blair, Her Majesty the Queen has dissolved Parliament. A General Election is upon us, to be held May 5th, and the stakes could not be higher. For the British, a crucial choice between ever-deeper European integration or a more Euro-skeptic stance is looming. For we Americans, and especially for American conservatives, the maddening choice is between our principles and ideals or the best ally we’ve had to date in the critical test of our times: the War on Terror.
First, the players and the latest polls:
SkyNews:
Labour 36
Conservative 36
Lib-Dems 21
The Times:
Labour 37
Conservative 35
Lib-Dems 19
The Independent:
Labour 36
Conservative 33
Lib-Dems 21
The Guardian:
Labour: 37
Conservative: 34
Lib-Dems: 21
Financial Times:
Labour: 34
Conservative: 39
Lib-Dems 21
Daily Telegraph:
Labour: 36
Conservative 33
Lib-Dems 22
And now, just a few hours ago, the latest YouGov figures in today’s Telegraph show that the Tories have closed the gap to an even 36-36 tie.
There are a couple of things one can say about this. First, the fact that the Tories are competitive is coming as a bit of a shock in Britain. The consensus view of the moment seems to hold that the Conservative rise is due more to Labour unattractiveness than Tory strategy. We see no reason to disagree.
From our standpoint as Americans in the Near Abroad it’s almost impossible to grasp the almost unanimous hatred of the Iraq War amongst the British people. Almost to a man, the British think that the War was based on a lie and is, at best, wrongheaded, at worst, criminal.
Thus, despite the ever-more government addicted British people’s natural attachment to Labour, the sheen has begun to come off Tony Blair. The time has long since passed that Labour and its supporters have thanked his electibility for their positions; the party has begun to think of itself as rightfully in power and set to shed its “New Labour” guise in favor of old-fashioned socialism. It has begun to think it can do without “Bush’s Poodle.”
The real astonishing news is the continued rise of the fanatically pro-European Union Liberal Democrats, a party which, in our estimation, is absolutely astonishing in its ability to be wrong on just about every important issue of the day, foreign or domestic. The depressing reality is that more than 1 in 5 Britons now fervently agree that they should be ruled by Belgians and Italians rather than Parliament and that somehow a vague concept of “human rights” which is nothing more than the established prejudices of a left-wing social order, has the force of “law.”
The good guys at Powerline call the British election a “win-win” situation in that, whatever may pass, the British will either elect a known friend of the United States or the Conservative Party, long a stalwart of the old Atlantic alliance.
We wish we could agree.
The fact is that the Tories have always had more than a strong element of anti-Americanism in its ranks. This fact, along with the natural opportunism of an opposition poised to take advantage of the governing party’s support for a deeply unpopular war, has bred a new sort of Conservatism. The kind that can rise in Parliament and ask the Prime Minister “how many Iraqi women and children must die before the Americans have their vengeance in Falluja.”
There is a reason Michael Howard, the Conservative leader, has not been invited to the White House, as have virtually all of his predecessors. Nor was the Conservative Party delegation given a very warm welcome back at the RNC in 2004. Riven by incompatible positions on the only question that matters—that of Europe—the Conservatives have become a party of mush that offers nothing except platitudes and snarky comments.
We never thought we would say this, but……
British friends: please vote for the socialist.
First, the players and the latest polls:
SkyNews:
Labour 36
Conservative 36
Lib-Dems 21
The Times:
Labour 37
Conservative 35
Lib-Dems 19
The Independent:
Labour 36
Conservative 33
Lib-Dems 21
The Guardian:
Labour: 37
Conservative: 34
Lib-Dems: 21
Financial Times:
Labour: 34
Conservative: 39
Lib-Dems 21
Daily Telegraph:
Labour: 36
Conservative 33
Lib-Dems 22
And now, just a few hours ago, the latest YouGov figures in today’s Telegraph show that the Tories have closed the gap to an even 36-36 tie.
There are a couple of things one can say about this. First, the fact that the Tories are competitive is coming as a bit of a shock in Britain. The consensus view of the moment seems to hold that the Conservative rise is due more to Labour unattractiveness than Tory strategy. We see no reason to disagree.
From our standpoint as Americans in the Near Abroad it’s almost impossible to grasp the almost unanimous hatred of the Iraq War amongst the British people. Almost to a man, the British think that the War was based on a lie and is, at best, wrongheaded, at worst, criminal.
Thus, despite the ever-more government addicted British people’s natural attachment to Labour, the sheen has begun to come off Tony Blair. The time has long since passed that Labour and its supporters have thanked his electibility for their positions; the party has begun to think of itself as rightfully in power and set to shed its “New Labour” guise in favor of old-fashioned socialism. It has begun to think it can do without “Bush’s Poodle.”
The real astonishing news is the continued rise of the fanatically pro-European Union Liberal Democrats, a party which, in our estimation, is absolutely astonishing in its ability to be wrong on just about every important issue of the day, foreign or domestic. The depressing reality is that more than 1 in 5 Britons now fervently agree that they should be ruled by Belgians and Italians rather than Parliament and that somehow a vague concept of “human rights” which is nothing more than the established prejudices of a left-wing social order, has the force of “law.”
The good guys at Powerline call the British election a “win-win” situation in that, whatever may pass, the British will either elect a known friend of the United States or the Conservative Party, long a stalwart of the old Atlantic alliance.
We wish we could agree.
The fact is that the Tories have always had more than a strong element of anti-Americanism in its ranks. This fact, along with the natural opportunism of an opposition poised to take advantage of the governing party’s support for a deeply unpopular war, has bred a new sort of Conservatism. The kind that can rise in Parliament and ask the Prime Minister “how many Iraqi women and children must die before the Americans have their vengeance in Falluja.”
There is a reason Michael Howard, the Conservative leader, has not been invited to the White House, as have virtually all of his predecessors. Nor was the Conservative Party delegation given a very warm welcome back at the RNC in 2004. Riven by incompatible positions on the only question that matters—that of Europe—the Conservatives have become a party of mush that offers nothing except platitudes and snarky comments.
We never thought we would say this, but……
British friends: please vote for the socialist.
