Things Can Only Get Better...
.
The anthem of Tony Blair and Labour's election victory of 1997. God, I can remember it now. Staying up, all night, watching the results come in. It wasn't a victory, it was a fucking massacre. After 18 years of Tory mis-rule we finally had kicked the bastards out of power and now it was *our* turn. We could reverse the Tory's destruction of our education system, we could reverse what they'd done to our heavy industries, steel, ship-building, engineering and mining.

That night/morning- it was golden.

Then look what happened.

This government has brought in more repressive legislation than any Tory government could have dreamed of. Civil liberties? - You don't have any. Imprisonment and torture of your own citizens? - Mr Bush asked us to ignore it.

Awe - fuck it. I'll expand on this in the morning.

But the creeping disappointment of that Labour victory still has eats away at me. Watching, month after month, as they gradually dropped their cloaks and revealed themselves as self-centered rich bastards who's only concern was feathering their own nests.


The thing that keeps springing to mind is the last paragraph of Animal Farm.

"The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but always it was impossible to say which was which."


Bastards, the lot of them.*

Cheers

*There were a few, rare,exceptions
( Legless Mister Stabby - shanks for the memory, Thu 26 Jun 2008, 16:02, 27 replies)

Yep
It comes to something when I end up having more respect for David Davies for having some balls than for the whole of the labour cabinet.
(Bazongaloid, Thu 26 Jun 2008, 16:04, closed)

we need some politicians with
bland personalities (or none at all) so they get on with the job rather than trying to look good

those fuckers. I hate them all. at least people knew where they stood with thatcher, rather than with the shower of complete fuckstains we have at the moment.

they are all a bunch of self-serving, self-satisfied, donkey-raping, shit-eaters!
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Thu 26 Jun 2008, 16:08, closed)

Amen brother
that May morning back in 1997 felt like a new dawn. The Tories had lost every seat in Scotland - it felt great!

Now? Disillusioned to say the very least. Labour? Never again.
(TheWeeWitch hasn't been here much recently .., Thu 26 Jun 2008, 16:08, closed)

If people hadn't un-registered themselves from the electoral register to avoid paying Poll-Tax
Labour may have won the 1992 election. This was before all that 'New Labour' crap came along.
( mistaspakkaman and the inedible shifting caterpillars, Thu 26 Jun 2008, 16:08, closed)

Oh Fuck..
You're one of us. One of God's Chosen People (a Geordie).

Now, instead of ship building, or heavy engineering, Newcastle provides fucking Call Centers.

*cries*
( Legless Mister Stabby - shanks for the memory, Thu 26 Jun 2008, 16:09, closed)

@Vipros
"we need some politicians with
bland personalities (or none at all) so they get on with the job rather than trying to look good"

*cough*GordonBrown*cough*
( mistaspakkaman and the inedible shifting caterpillars, Thu 26 Jun 2008, 16:09, closed)

Yup, I remember that night well
staying up watching the results at a friends flat and walking home in a new dawn.

It was the 1st election I could vote in. I voted tory.
( Colonel Dracula Two manky hookers and a racist dwarf, Thu 26 Jun 2008, 16:09, closed)

Brown has a personality
it is that off a complete spacktard

I mean someone like john major who is so grey that you couldn't see him against the backdrop of this website.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Thu 26 Jun 2008, 16:12, closed)

Fucking uber click
Yep, I was there too... Watching the election coverage in 1997 and watching hated Tory after hated Tory lose their seat. Marvellous.

For the first 100 days Blair was actually quite good...

The I started paying much more at the pumps. I was working in my first job and struggling as it was.

And then the bullshit started.

In 2008, we have eroded civil liberties, we pay 50% more taxes than we did in 1997, petrol is £1.20 a litre (70p of that is taxes), we invaded Iraq on the basis of the flimsiest evidence ever cynically paraded to parliament and 100,000 Iraqi civillians are now dead, the "world class" public transport infrastructure Two Jags promised in 1998 never happened, rampant and out of control political correctness threatens to legalise sex discrimination against men, £550bn a year is spunked away with all the restraint of Posh Spice at a Harvey Nicks sale and the cupboard is bare... They want STILL more taxes from us.

The past 11 years have turned me from a slightly left wing liberal into a dyed in the wool Labour-hater. I will never, ever vote Labour again.

[edit]

Madam Marlboro:

I wouldn't vote for any of them. There's "Fuck policies, look at my haircut!" Cameron and "Fuck publicity, no-one takes us seriously anyway" Clegg.

In the vain hope that voting ever becomes compulsory, I'll be ticking "None of the above".

David Davies has said what needs to be said.
(Bicycle Repairman "you're also a bit of a wanker", Thu 26 Jun 2008, 16:15, closed)

*clicks*
PJM- what would you vote? Labour's cocked it up, the Tories have fielded some sort of ventiloquists dummy and the Lib Dems can't seem to find a leader that isn't an alcoholic/ almost dead/ a Cameron-a-like.

Also, kudos for David Davies. I don't care if he's a tory, I don't care why he's doing it, but he's bringing a fucking important issue into the public eye, one that has been glossed over under the guise of "anti Terrorism" and so called protection of the people.
( Madam Marlboro wonders if you've found her yet, Thu 26 Jun 2008, 16:19, closed)

Move over lads
Must be a sign that we're all grown up now: we no longer expect anything from anyone willing to put themselves up for election.

My little bro' had a good mate working in the Labour Party central team that won that election - how we cheered. How hollow those cheers ring now.

But DON'T BE FOOLED. The other lot are probably even worse. They will lie through their back teeth and turn the clock back on their own grandmothers to grab a bit of that oh-so-lovely power. And who will be able to stop them next time?

Cynical? Me? mutter, rant, gibber...
(Che Grimsdale Best before:, Thu 26 Jun 2008, 16:20, closed)

That's the thing though Che
Could they be much worse? At least if they fuck you, you expected it, so it doesn't hurt so bad.

But Cameron's policies are making me think "hey, you know what, maybe's he's right?" And I can't believe i'm even considering that possibility.
(Bazongaloid, Thu 26 Jun 2008, 16:22, closed)

History not according to the Daily Mail
And we now have the minimum wage, doctors and nurses are getting paid something approaching what they are worth and whole villages of Iraqi Kurds are no longer getting gassed.

Blair, what a git!
(sigismund, Thu 26 Jun 2008, 16:23, closed)

Blair, not so bad?
Tell that to 100,000 dead Iraqis.
(Bicycle Repairman "you're also a bit of a wanker", Thu 26 Jun 2008, 16:26, closed)

The Who's have it
There isn't a word wrong in any of that. The only thing I'd like to chuck in is that anyone who thinks Labour are a bunch of corrupt, self-serving twats should note that the exact same description was even more true of the previous Tory regime - the bunch that seem so more sensible and respectable now.

Funny how they look good in opposition, eh?

Re. the subject title - I can't help thinking of that Who lyric
"Here comes the new boss,
Same as the old boss".
(Naughtius Maximus Stuck on the blog, desperate to log out., Thu 26 Jun 2008, 16:30, closed)

what can we do about it though?
the Tories and Labour are both equally cuntish

who do we vote for BNP? UKIP?

fuck that shit

but what are the other alternatives? the current crop of Lib Dems almost certainly couldn't govern their way out of a wet paper bag.

If had even the slightest interest or inclination or ability then I would try and get myself into power!
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Thu 26 Jun 2008, 16:33, closed)

Very true
The Tories are a fantastic opposition party, as good as Labour was in 1996.

Whoever gets in is going to have to sort out £550bn per annum public spending (enough to fund Britain's own Apollo project) which cannot be sustained, record borrowing, a shrinking economy, piss poor public sector accountability, an Olympics fast becoming a white elephant and of course an electorate rabidly pissed off.

If they fuck it up, we'll have a newly re-electable Labour back in power by 2015, likely with Ed Balls or one of the Millibands, or worse still Hazel wanking Blears at the helm. The thought is chilling.
(Bicycle Repairman "you're also a bit of a wanker", Thu 26 Jun 2008, 16:36, closed)

@al
Careful, be very careful. Just watch the smiles. Listen to the assurances, and hear the silent sound of politicians lying - again.

Things are going to be going very swiftly hell-wards in a hand-propelled motorless conveyance any day now. I for one don't trust any of the buggers to get us out of this up-coming mess, but sure as eggs is unfertilised chicken zygotes, they'll be looking after their cronies first the rest of us poor bastards very much last.

I think I'll re-read 'Small is Beautiful' by Friz Schumacher (sp?). Why do we need growth of 3% per annum exactly? Aren't we OK with the way things are? Why not stabilse, start re-using, build every new home with solar panels in the roof, forget digital TV....

Sorry, will switch off rant mode and go home I think.

No doubt, more tomorrow.
(Che Grimsdale Best before:, Thu 26 Jun 2008, 16:39, closed)

the fucking olympics
what a poor idea getting that was.

so it might regenerate some bits of the country.

mostly london, which would've happened anyway albeit more slowly and most likely more effectively.

what we will end up with is a whole load of unfinished poorly planned shite, leaving us embarrassed before the entire world, and having to call in the Germans to help us get the fucking stuff finished in time.

to make matters worse, we won't even fucking win anything!
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Thu 26 Jun 2008, 16:40, closed)

/\ /\
Werd up. Schumacher rocks. It's the only viable way forward..
And I remember tears of joy in the May sunshine.. a bright new day, free from 18 years of sleeze, corruption and phoney wars... ah. Hmmm. Remind me, four legs baaaad?
(Countryslicker, Thu 26 Jun 2008, 16:43, closed)

I don't know enough about British politics to intelligently comment.
However, I've spent the past hour trying to get Howard Jones out of my head.

GAAHHH!
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Thu 26 Jun 2008, 17:51, closed)

Ann Widdecombe for PM
Pity she's retiring.
( idonthaveafunnynickname Drink-Aware? Sure. I'm aware I want another drink., Thu 26 Jun 2008, 18:09, closed)

TRL:
"The United Kingdom, Governed by cunts since 1945"

(and probably sometime beforehand too).
(Bicycle Repairman "you're also a bit of a wanker", Thu 26 Jun 2008, 18:53, closed)

Our only hope
is for Jeremy Clarkson to run as an independant with a hand picked team of similar reactionaries to win every other seat and bring common sense back to government.

Bye bye Nulab, and thanks for nothing for dragging Britain into 1984.
(ianisme, Fri 27 Jun 2008, 3:27, closed)

Here, here! *click*
I too thought of change in the ifrst election, then 'perhaps it will be now' in the second and 'they got in again?' on the third. Although I have no idea who to go fo the next time, no-one really seems to fit the bill.
My plan: I am moving to the Isle of Man as soon as my house is done up good enough to sell. They don't have political parties over there, and the taxes (income, council etc.) are so much better. Though fuel and food is dearer.
*looks longingly at ferry tickets*
( VandenPlas can't think of anything clever - no change there!, Fri 27 Jun 2008, 11:28, closed)

*clickety*
For "The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but always it was impossible to say which was which." you get the clickety for being so completely on the head with it.

I honestly think it doesn't matter which cunts get into power - they really ARE all cunts.

And mahoosive ones at that...
(Nogin the Nog is the good one! Beware Nogbad the Bad!, Fri 27 Jun 2008, 15:24, closed)