THE SHOWMAN LEAVES THE STAGE
By Fraser Nelson(link)

Dogs bark, cats miaow, Blair gives superb speeches. His latest farewell remarks were no exception, and there were a few misty eyes here in 22 Old Queen Street. Not mine, I’m afraid to say. Fat lot of good his speeches have done of us over the years. But here’s what I made of his remarks. This was his long-awaited “sorry”.

Specifically “I give my thanks to you, the British people, for the times I have succeeded – and my apologies to you for the times where I have fallen short”. Of course, he did qualify this earlier: “I may have been wrong. That’s your call. But believe one thing, if nothing else – I did what I thought was right.” So even when he was wrong, he was kinda right. But he needs to say sorry to be forgiven, which I sense he desperately wants to be.

But his speech was riddled with tricks. “Think back to your living standards in 1997″. Now unless a developed country is at war, its people will be better-off over any ten-year period. Usually thanks to their own hard work, and nothing to do with the political elite. Only one government, he said, could say it had left office with more jobs fewer unemployed, better health, better education, lower crime and economic growth in every quarter. Another Blair trick! Only the last criteria is unique to the Blair decade, and that’s because the steady – but slow – way the UK economy has grown. As I never tire of pointing out, the UK has had the worst economic growth in the English-speaking world since 1997. Most developed countries have done better than us. Nothing to boast about.

The final words on Blair’s speech were “Good luck”. I rather fancied he meant to say “Because Gordon Brown’s coming and you’ll all need all the luck you can get.” And I’d say Amen to that. Blair is the best showman to be in No. 10 since Churchill. Fittingly, he’s going off with a good performance (albeit too long for my liking). But he had an opportunity to truly change Britain, and blew it. The Business supplement in this week’s magazine is entitled “A Modern Tragedy.” And this, I think, really does say it all.

This blog is undergoing some rennovation! If you see colors changing and strange things here and there, that’s because I am designing and experimenting with new ideas.

Please bear with me as I upgrade. Thanks! :)

Mandy!

The Famous Spitting Image!!

There are new photos in the galleries!

Happy German-American Day (for those of you who are German and/or living in America)!

According to the latest news reports, Princess Kiko, who is pregnant with a possible heir to the Japanese throne, needs a Caesarean operation. The baby, due in late September, may be born quite early.

The wife of Prince Akishino, Princess Kiko, 39, had symptoms of placenta previa, a complication in which the placenta becomes implanted at a location lower than normal in the uterus.

No male has been born into Japan’s imperial family since 1965, and the sex of Princess Kiko’s baby will not be revealed until it is born. The pregnancy caused a stir within the Royal household and the Japanese government, who put their plans to revise the constitution on hold. A revision of the 1947 imperial succession law would have cleared the way for Princess Aiko, the daughter of Crown Prince Naruhito, to become Japan’s first reigning empress since the 18th century. But with the news of this possible male heir from Kiko, the government waited with baited breath.

Crown Prince Naruhito’s wife, Princess Masako, had been trying desparately to provide a male heir. The strain of not being able to conceive was said to have caused Masako to break down. But she eventually produced her healthy daughter Aiko. Masako withdrew from public life for a couple of years, only just recently emerging.

Flags of the Royal Family, United Kingdom from Flags of The World. A great guide!