91Èȱ¬

...please...tonight...news..not speculation...or I may have to get myself a satellite dish...the electorate gave Blair another full term...he decides when to go...not Newsnight and the rest of the hacks...please...tonight...report some news...or change your title.

On Newsnight tonight the reporter said Jack Straw had betrayed his real thinking when he talked of Tony Blair in the past tense, then played quote: "...he has done great things..." Sorry - but "he has done" is not the past tense. It's the present perfect. "Tony Blair is the present perfect" is very different from "Tony Blair is the past tense". I expect much better of Kirsty Wark and Newsnight.

Unbelievable. Boys dying in Iraq and Afghanistan on Blairs order and this lot get more worked up about the possibility of their losing their jobs. Embarrassing. Get your priorities right MPs. Shocking

...ok Ms Wark...I give up. 23 minutes into the programme and you are still going on like some gossipy old fish wife...you've lost me...give me a call when there's some news.

Just watched Hazel Blear , a very competent woman , trotting out the approved line . As a former Councillor , I regonise the training ; say nothing sensible if it doesn't fit the question .
On the doorsteps in Luton people aren't saying thank you for the working families tax credit but 'what is the Labour Party doing about Lebanon and Iraq ?
We had a Labour Council in Luton before 2003 which was doing a lot of things to benefit the most vulnerable people in our community . thanks to TB's sycophantic relationship with Bush we lost to the Lib Dems who have cut services etc , etc .
Lebanon will probably deny us the chance to win the council back so the sooner the aristicratic Blair goes the better

It is deplorable that Newsnight is leading the coup against Tony Blair! Is this still a democracy? Not it seems as far as Newsnight is concerned.
Instead of analysing news, people like
Kirsty Wark et al at Newsnight seem to be obsessed with indoctrinating the viewers and using this slot as a platform for their views.

Have I just heard Justin Rowlatt ask a young child whether he was "pissed off"? Forgive me for asking but do the 91Èȱ¬ no longer employ journalists for whom using good English is a necessity? Moreover, is it really appropriate for what is still classed as foul language to be used to a minor; if a teenage "hoodie" on a street corner had used such a term it would be classed as symptomatic of "anti-social" behaviour. Responsible journalism only please!

many people have wished tony blair gone since certain choices made in 2003

blair, remember the marches against the war...everyone who attended those marches you tried to suppress and intimidate, is celebrating now, but watching closely to see if john "george bush" reid is to become our new general

say no to john reid

I'm disgusted at the gross disloyalty being shown by Labour Ministers who have turned on Blair. They are acting like puppies of the tabloid press, stiring up trouble. Tony Blair has won 3 elections for the party, the economy is in a fantastic state. Policies to tackle poverty are starting to work (such as tax credits) and so are lots of other policies. What do they want? I agree that Blair was short sighted to be so close to Bush, but there is more at stake here than that. Gordon Brown is an excellent Chancellor, but I doubt if he's got what it takes to be a successful PM. Tony Blair will be a hard act to follow, and the rebels are just feeding the amunition to the other side.

ref 9...CIA secret prisons...Airbus sale (UK jobs?) ...more deaths in Afghanistan...

...the resignees jumped on the media bandwagon..newsnight must be delighted with their coup (see 7)...well done

Seems like Britain is turning into a little fascist state when a group of simpletons (politicians) can turn a government upside down by resigning. This is a democracy (of sorts) and Blair is the elected leader of this country -like it or lump it. A substitute cannot be installed on a whim.Or what is really going on here...a few likely lads running a country; head boy is dismissed for bad behaviour and Bily Bunter gets promoted to Head Boy because he's in charge of the tuck shop. Get real people of Britain; we are living in dangerous and scandalous times, the country is sinking in debts and wars of terror and blind journalism gone to riot. We need a common sense prime minister and I am ready for the job. from an ordinary housewife.

Can we have Tony over here across the pond? You're going to miss him when he's gone!

Pater (9) Are parliamentary private secretaries (PPS) on the Government payroll? I thought they were Minister's bag carriers?

#15...a lying three faced hyppocrite illegal war monkey ? missed ?

nope

Will you please stop giving Eric so much attention, as I'm worried that his head may soon implode under the weight of his own ego.
"...the sophisticated wit provided by chiefly myself"
Oh yes Eric: "Hilary Cringestrong", "Rowly-Powly". You're a veritable Oscar Wilde! And as for "a chap who looked like a Baldrick clone", what exactly do you expect, considering that he's the actor who played Baldrick?
Eric's rather tired punning and simplistic style of avoiding any of the facts you report that don't support his already-formed views do not deserve prominence over everyone else.

Hi Newsnight: I give up gracefully on my other comment re finding my name & Email adress still at the bottom of a comment I made re your book club.
However, the more important issue is whether Tony Blair should be forced to resign, almost by blackmail, and yet we have no word from Gordon Brown. This I find unusual since he is suposed to be PM elect. I would say come clean, GB, are you behind all this crisis or not? Make a statement and do not hide in the closet. With regard to yesterday's Newsnight ptogramme, I found it interesting and enlightening. must say I find politicians rather egoist persons, and though Newsnight's handled the situation well. Congrats, Jennifer W.

While the Blair/Brown debacle may be diverting it also is a potent reminder, as the sagacious George Orwell wrote, that "all power corrupts ...and absolute power corrupts absolutely".

The Pedant (msg #3) wrote:

"Tony Blair is the present perfect" is very different from "Tony Blair is the past tense". I expect much better of Kirsty Wark and Newsnight.

You might expect better from Kirsty Wark and Newsnight but I don't. The programme is getting more and more like the Today programme - increasingly tending towards the 'Big Brother' audience.

Was disappointed that Newsnight allowed itself to get into such a froth about coups, plotting etc. rather than looking at how Blair is actually regarded these days by the Labour Party and by the country. He was a liability in the last election (won with fewer votes than they lost with in 92), and he's a liability now. If he had any integrity he'd have gone after it became clear that he'd misled us into a war. I don't care what he's done domestically (though he has plenty of detractors there too) -- the past 5 years have shown me that there is nothing more important than the way a country conducts itself in the world. I'm glad that the party seems to be finally finding the courage to do something about him.

The whole media coverage of the Austrian girl kidnapped is just the 'Missing White Girl Syndrome'. There are thousands of other children in other parts of the world have seen far worse - slavery, bonded labour for all their lives. Why is one person story given so much coverage, compared to far more important stories in the world. And on yes, I am really happy for the girl to be set free, but the media frenzy is just overblown as she is white girl.

Peter (18), thanks for clearing that up.

The problem as always is language - if we elected 'Representatives' rather than 'primeministers/leaders/fuhrers', those who assume such roles may then be protected from getting grandiose ideas about their own self importance. 60,000,000+ people make this country 'work' not just one or two men.
If I hear another minister come on TV and say "what the people want" when in reality they mean what they want I'll scream. Just over 20% of the electorate put Blair in power this time around - even then believing he would be replaced quickly after that election and only 40% of those who calim to be a labour supporter want him to stay. 40% of 20% isn't very many at all.
More representative government is required at all levels - which means we need to change how we do politics period - it is time for proportional representation.

Hoo hay. I've written a blog which criticises the UK government. It's just my opinion and I don't back that opinion up with any kind of evidence, but my blog is called 'Civilserf' therefore it must be worth broadcasting to millions. Ask the bbc who just did. To quote tonights newsnight 'I may or may not be a woman. I may or may not be thirty three. I may or not work for the department of work and pensions.' BLA BLA Peter Hain is lazy. The government are generally bad. BLA BLA- What's the point in me writing this.