Clips from April 1995 and January 1997. Opposition leader Tony Blair attacks Prime Minister John Major. Just listen to Blunkett shouting down the microphone!
haha tony blair was incredible back then. he was like a boxer putting john major through 12 agonising rounds until the final knockout in 97 with labours landslide victory
I just hate Tony Blair... Charming, smiling, nice, and then he sticks a knife in your back. He's a politician, genuinely, of the worst kind. Dangerous, very dangerous man.
Yes, he did wonders for immigration and wasn't he great at that game of finding the WOMD! ah yes. great prime minister was Tony. Don't even get me started on that f***wit brown.
John Major was a truly amazing PM. Tony Blair wasn't half as good and his parting shot was to appoint a disaster knowing full well what would happen given Brown's record as Chancellor.
Sadly Tony Blair was right. He landed the killer blow. John Major really was rubbish at leading his own party and The Tories were at loggerheads over European policy.
John Major was a good man, and if his party at the time werent bent of self destruction, would have been one of our great Prime Ministers, certainly he was infinately more intellegent than Blair and Blair knew it, hence the constant leftwing attacks on Majors character.
Your country needed to be a lappdog for America, otherwise Britain's economy would have collapsed. He was better than many others before and even after him, let's not forget Thatcher, or at least the Irish won't ever forget her...
Tony Blair eh? Seemed like the old cobwebs of brirtish politics would be swept aside in favour of a younger, newer, fresher leader. We ended up being CONNED in the end. WEAK,WEAK,WEAK!!!!!!!
***** Either you are Trolling and if you are not then you are just a complete and utter idiot. If you want to carry this debate further just be warned I will show no hesitation what so ever in proving you wrong and making you look even more of a compete fool.
+Roman Sure start- Peace in Northern Ireland- 1000s children lifted out of poverty- minimum wage- free university education for 1000s who otherwise would not have been able to afford it and the Tories put back where they belong in opposition for 13 years.
Blair was our best Prime Minister ever. He certainly stuck it up the tories. They still haven't begun to recover from the kicking he gave them in 1997. I hope they never do.
I am a great fan of C-Span's coverage of question time. Some of the best i have ever seen were between Blair and Major. Question time is kind of boring now.
Lots of people make that argument, as if Labour willingly copied the Tory policy simply because they 'liked it', but thats not entirely the case. The fact of the matter is, commercialisation and privatisation are by their very nature essentially IRREVERSIBLE. It wasn't really to do with appropriating 'policy', so much as Labour HAVING to accept a one-off revolutionary act that couldn't be undone.
Anton, I agree with you. I don't believe the British born people, in the main, are racists, but immigration shouldn't be to our detriment, and successive governments appear to be soft on the subject due to fear of criticism!
Back in 1997 I was pleased when Major got kicked out. Retrospectively this country would have been better off with him than the shit Labour have left behind after 13 years of fucking up just about everything,
History also shows that Blair carried on the same policies as Major under the banner of 'New' Labour. Privatisation, private finance, Public Private Partnerships, Private Finance Initiative, mortgage everything owned by the public for short-term savings at long-term cost...
@peacefrog1916 interesting read, but what about the other issues surrounding the separation of Scotland from the United Kingdom? Please elaborate on how these would be dealt with.
@peacefrog1916 as an Englishman I would quite happily give Scotland independence, as it simply feeds off the English taxpayer and is of very little economic value.
Then Blair took over a booming economy recovered from Major's big mistake joining European Monetary Union. This together with Majors bill ensuring we got a referendum on joining the Euro was why we have an economy that can survive today.
Which is why I'm rooting for New Labour in the coming election. If Labour wins, Cameron's blue Labour party will hopefully collapse and a proper conservative party will take their place.
I disagree. Labour got unemployment to its lowest ever levels. They brought in New Deal which gave the long term unemployed choices of training, work experience or help setting up a business and that got them into long term careers. Now thats what I call a positive government. Under the tories today just like in the 1980s unemployment grows. In the 1980s the unemployed signed on in DSS offices year after year. Labour renamed them job seekers and gave them direction.
Don't know PD. He hasn't had much time yet. Blair didn't f**k it up in the first year, so give Obama a chance. Politicians in the UK play a game that benefits the own image, and the British born public are subjected to that. For example, on immigration, none will call for a regulated policy as they might be called racists, but 3 weeks of hot weather and we see stands pipes. Property remains costly as due to the lack of it. More cars on the roads, more pollution - what are we chopped liver?
@Ninje56 We owe Blair nothing. You got rid of the Tories but you got a semi-right wing, thatcher admiring government in it's place. The only thing Blair done right was the concessions he had to make to the working class.
New Labour turned it all into spin, soundbites and posturing. It was the end of days went for any critical discussion in parliament from Labour. Labour more concerned with saying something to make the news and get into the minds of voters. Blair: "I lead my party, he follows his." The nation lapped it up, and even won the trust of too much of the middle class.
@MyDoominateR As I stated, it's a show for the public. Cabinet ministers have been in politics for many years, they are thick skined and are not offended by these comments. They don't attack each other personally, they attack their leadership qualities. UK has used this system for well over 1300 years, longer than any other country's political system, which is a credit to its effectiveness. They do not hate each other, just get over they do this in the spirit of public support.
I saw the policies of Major's government (the PFI, and privatisation of the railways, to name two) continued unmodified by New Labour. 'New' Labour continued the previous government's trend of commercialising public services.
I am an Afghan and for me Tony has always been an excellent public speaker. actually i love it the way the British speak English, but there is something more interesting in this guy's way of speaking. Weak! Weak! Weak! lol
we've always been ruthless, that's what built an empire and then destroyed it. There will never be an elected PM who wasn't ruthless, and that is part of the reason Brown will lose to Cameron.
Yes Blair was more charismatic and a better speaker than Major but look at the strength of the economy in 1997 compared to the complete ham shit Labour have made of it after 12 years of "government". I disliked Major then but in hindsight I think the guy was very shrewd and one of the most diligent Chancellors we have ever had. History will judge him a success unlike Blair and Brown.
There there isnt a politician in any government that isnt corrupt. Blair wasnt corrupt until late in his term when he had to play The Game in order to get anything done at all, money, jobs, favors, ect. It happens tp every one of them no matter what there intentions when they take office. Blair was honest and spoke his mind at the start then The Game came into play.
after 11 years, there's a new breed, the "smug labour boy". As a tory myself (and a working-class one) I can't deny that the tories have spawned some useless, smug bastards over the years. We're relatively light on them nowadays, but there's still a few about. I'd argue that the smugness of too much time in government has very much transferred to the other lot. And having worked under them in a few government departments under contract, i can confirm they are indeed idiots
Now who's leading and who's following? Blair had a genuinely new idea for Labour, they followed it, and they won. Now Brown has come 40 years behind the ideas, and he's not even doing a good impression of a serious '70's Labour nutter. If governments lose elections rather than oppositions winning them, then he'd best hope no other parties exist whatsoever.
whatever you say about Tony, he was easily one of the greatest speakers and questions-answers debaters I've ever seen. I think highly of almost all his arguments, unfortunately I don't agree with much of the way Labour has implemented many of it's reforms... But I admire Tony Blairs ability to argue his case.
@DrakonixZ You mean the debt we acrrued from bailing out the banks and wars in iraq and afghanistan which the Tories would have done as well? There all as bad as each other, none of them will sort out the main problems of the country which are lack housing and unemployment - both of which are contributing to a slow growth economy
Blair was brilliant, most people in the south respected him, or at least all of the republicans i know. Blair was like that of the p.m. 100 years ago, Gladstone, while being a loyal British politician he chose not to deal with republicans with violence but to try and understand where they were coming from, and it worked, nearly.
I would far prefer that the head of the party follow his party, not lead it! That's the whole bloody point. A prime minister is not a president, thank all that's good.
depends in what way they'd "touch" the NHS. As it is it's a massive beaurocratic organisation that prioritises form-filling and arbitrary targets above actual patient outcomes. Maybe some form of touch may be a good idea. I don't think anyone seriously thinks they'd get rid of it though, or noticeably hike charges for general procedures etc. they may add the question "how do we actually pay for this?" which the government have skirted for 11 years, with mostly unpleasant consequences
Yes but now the defence budget has been over spent by 38 billion pounds hence why there is a cut in 8% defence budget and about time too! Under Labour we were too dependant on the welfare and living on the State too good for TOO long! it is costing us sum £120 million pounds in debt interest per day! Labour were spending and giving things away without knowing how much has been spent. If it was the banks fault then there should have been a Levy on the banks. Also they should have been regulated!
"Booooyah motha'fuckah'!" Trashtalking in the parliament, this is how politics all over the world should play out, the one with the best smacktalk wins! Then you have no need for wars!:D
TB: "The Prime Minister of this country can't even urge his own party to support his positions"
"YEAH!!"
"Uh... Yeah"
LMAO
Yeah...
I wish the American Congress was this exciting. I'd be watching C-SPAN more often.
They always show pmqs on c span
At 0:23 David Blunkett shouts down the microphone and how he does is so funny
+Chris Dawson Yeah haha.
"Weak, Weak, Weak!" LOL.
haha tony blair was incredible back then. he was like a boxer putting john major through 12 agonising rounds until the final knockout in 97 with labours landslide victory
This is a very proper rap battle.....
I just hate Tony Blair... Charming, smiling, nice, and then he sticks a knife in your back. He's a politician, genuinely, of the worst kind. Dangerous, very dangerous man.
***** I'm not disputing the good things he did for Britain - I'm disputing his character as a man.
@RJ k
Didn't do as much for the hundreds of thousands of dead Iraqis did he?
Evil excuse for a human being. Add to that his horrible wife
I can't help but want to give John Major a hug
reminiscent of Thatcher's "no, no, no" - "weak, weak, weak"
Those were the days... Tony was a great man
blair in his prime, when every1 loved him
Tony Blair, the greatest Prime Minister we ever had.
Totally was! How I wish it was May 2nd 1997 again
Yes, he did wonders for immigration and wasn't he great at that game of finding the WOMD! ah yes. great prime minister was Tony. Don't even get me started on that f***wit brown.
attlee, churchill, llloyd george, wilson, macmillan were all better
1. attlee
2. wilson
3. brown
4. callaghan
5. blair
6. macdonald
POWER GAP
7+. some tory cunts, mostly dead
THE IRAQ WAR.
Ha-ha thank you very much for posting this.
It is awesome when politics can pretty much make you laugh
Once again, many thanks
Tony Blair was a terrible Prime Minister.... but he knew how to kick ass in the House of Commons!
John Major was a truly amazing PM.
Tony Blair wasn't half as good and his parting shot was to appoint a disaster knowing full well what would happen given Brown's record as Chancellor.
Sadly Tony Blair was right. He landed the killer blow. John Major really was rubbish at leading his own party and The Tories were at loggerheads over European policy.
Brown’s record as Chancellor?
Back when tony had integrity
These rapid-fire debates are awesome. They must also get a good cardio workout from having to stand up and sit back down all the time.
There were over 8 million unemployed adults of working age under New Labour.
John Major was a good man, and if his party at the time werent bent of self destruction, would have been one of our great Prime Ministers, certainly he was infinately more intellegent than Blair and Blair knew it, hence the constant leftwing attacks on Majors character.
Lol! Look at Blunkett creasing up!!
Blair and brown were poor and somehow Cameron is actually managing to be worse
Your country needed to be a lappdog for America, otherwise Britain's economy would have collapsed. He was better than many others before and even after him, let's not forget Thatcher, or at least the Irish won't ever forget her...
Tony Blair got his words mixed up:
"ask me my three main priorities for government and i tell you - immigration, immigration and immigration"
John Major signed Maastricht (which allowed free movement), not Blair!
so weird to see labour on the left of the speaker, i was only 3 at the time lol
Tony Blair eh? Seemed like the old cobwebs of brirtish politics would be swept aside in favour of a younger, newer, fresher leader. We ended up being CONNED in the end. WEAK,WEAK,WEAK!!!!!!!
Mad LOLz at the Schoolyard "Yeaahooooo you got told!"
Haha, I don't think John Prescott's expression has ever changed.
Blair looked extremely cunning between 00:12 and 00:17.
No one was to have any idea of much damage Tony Blair's time in power would have...
Samuel Coe Well said he was very good at fooling a lot of people with empty promises.
*****
Either you are Trolling and if you are not then you are just a complete and utter idiot. If you want to carry this debate further just be warned I will show no hesitation what so ever in proving you wrong and making you look even more of a compete fool.
***** I will also wipe the floor with you if you decide to debate his time in office...
+RJ k Well said! I totally agree- these people would rather Labour be a 'pure' fringe protest group than a viable alternative government.
+Roman Sure start- Peace in Northern Ireland- 1000s children lifted out of poverty- minimum wage- free university education for 1000s who otherwise would not have been able to afford it and the Tories put back where they belong in opposition for 13 years.
Blair was our best Prime Minister ever. He certainly stuck it up the tories. They still haven't begun to recover from the kicking he gave them in 1997. I hope they never do.
I am a great fan of C-Span's coverage of question time.
Some of the best i have ever seen were between Blair and Major.
Question time is kind of boring now.
NO one realised at the time the open immigration problem would get disasterously out of hand from already high levels :(
Lots of people make that argument, as if Labour willingly copied the Tory policy simply because they 'liked it', but thats not entirely the case.
The fact of the matter is, commercialisation and privatisation are by their very nature essentially IRREVERSIBLE. It wasn't really to do with appropriating 'policy', so much as Labour HAVING to accept a one-off revolutionary act that couldn't be undone.
Anton, I agree with you. I don't believe the British born people, in the main, are racists, but immigration shouldn't be to our detriment, and successive governments appear to be soft on the subject due to fear of criticism!
You can almost see why people fell for it. How i would love to go back 11 years, sigh...
Back in 1997 I was pleased when Major got kicked out. Retrospectively this country would have been better off with him than the shit Labour have left behind after 13 years of fucking up just about everything,
That's because most of them have been in the Commons bar all day.
Ooooo...... that's some beef going on there, Blair owns " I leed my partie, he follows his!" braap to Blair Kaz!
History also shows that Blair carried on the same policies as Major under the banner of 'New' Labour. Privatisation, private finance, Public Private Partnerships, Private Finance Initiative, mortgage everything owned by the public for short-term savings at long-term cost...
@peacefrog1916 interesting read, but what about the other issues surrounding the separation of Scotland from the United Kingdom? Please elaborate on how these would be dealt with.
Funny to watch the Tory front bench chortling at Blair's 'weak, weak, weak!' jibe.
Quite sad to see Eric Forth next to John Major and Mo Mowlem next to Tony Blair.
Sadly neither is any longer with us.
"The first labour government in a generation" and look how that turned out.
Yes, much better than any of the two previous governments lead by the Tories!
What lovely hair TB had back then.
that was 1 of the best things new labour has done since 1997
This is like Yo Mama meets debates.
@peacefrog1916 as an Englishman I would quite happily give Scotland independence, as it simply feeds off the English taxpayer and is of very little economic value.
The American MNCs are supporting your economy, you rely on America as do many other countries.
Then Blair took over a booming economy recovered from Major's big mistake joining European Monetary Union. This together with Majors bill ensuring we got a referendum on joining the Euro was why we have an economy that can survive today.
Blair looked like David Cameron today.... Attacking the Prime Minister.....
We went from this to Boris and Kier
Tony Blair was a terrorist responsible for thousands of innocent deaths.
Which is why I'm rooting for New Labour in the coming election. If Labour wins, Cameron's blue Labour party will hopefully collapse and a proper conservative party will take their place.
I disagree. Labour got unemployment to its lowest ever levels. They brought in New Deal which gave the long term unemployed choices of training, work experience or help setting up a business and that got them into long term careers. Now thats what I call a positive government. Under the tories today just like in the 1980s unemployment grows. In the 1980s the unemployed signed on in DSS offices year after year. Labour renamed them job seekers and gave them direction.
Don't know PD. He hasn't had much time yet. Blair didn't f**k it up in the first year, so give Obama a chance. Politicians in the UK play a game that benefits the own image, and the British born public are subjected to that. For example, on immigration, none will call for a regulated policy as they might be called racists, but 3 weeks of hot weather and we see stands pipes. Property remains costly as due to the lack of it. More cars on the roads, more pollution - what are we chopped liver?
haha these are like boxing press conferences
I wish Blair was talking to Bush LOL
@Ninje56 We owe Blair nothing. You got rid of the Tories but you got a semi-right wing, thatcher admiring government in it's place. The only thing Blair done right was the concessions he had to make to the working class.
I agree that Tony Blair dealt with.... "EDUCATION EDUCATION EDUCATION" oh boy here we go! I WANT MAGGIE BACK FIRST, GET LAWSON TOO!
Erm...that's why it's called "New Labour", becase traditional policies were reinvented!
New Labour turned it all into spin, soundbites and posturing.
It was the end of days went for any critical discussion in parliament from Labour. Labour more concerned with saying something to make the news and get into the minds of voters. Blair: "I lead my party, he follows his." The nation lapped it up, and even won the trust of too much of the middle class.
what a quote, i've grown to dislike Tony Blair because of the whole George Bush thing, but in this instance well done i take my hat off :)
@MyDoominateR As I stated, it's a show for the public. Cabinet ministers have been in politics for many years, they are thick skined and are not offended by these comments. They don't attack each other personally, they attack their leadership qualities.
UK has used this system for well over 1300 years, longer than any other country's political system, which is a credit to its effectiveness.
They do not hate each other, just get over they do this in the spirit of public support.
Whilst I disagree with your Naziesque views, I congratulate you for your honesty.
I saw the policies of Major's government (the PFI, and privatisation of the railways, to name two) continued unmodified by New Labour. 'New' Labour continued the previous government's trend of commercialising public services.
I am an Afghan and for me Tony has always been an excellent public speaker. actually i love it the way the British speak English, but there is something more interesting in this guy's way of speaking. Weak! Weak! Weak! lol
we've always been ruthless, that's what built an empire and then destroyed it. There will never be an elected PM who wasn't ruthless, and that is part of the reason Brown will lose to Cameron.
At days end trusting in politicians of any stripe is ludicrous.
Tony Blair is a legend !
Is this the British equivalent to a U.S. Presidential debate? This seems a lot more interesting than the way we (Americans) do it.
Yes Blair was more charismatic and a better speaker than Major but look at the strength of the economy in 1997 compared to the complete ham shit Labour have made of it after 12 years of "government". I disliked Major then but in hindsight I think the guy was very shrewd and one of the most diligent Chancellors we have ever had. History will judge him a success unlike Blair and Brown.
@ailingequation
Thankyou. Its good to know there are other rational people out there. Take care.
Please Don't vote Labour; Please Don't Vote Tory.
There there isnt a politician in any government that isnt corrupt. Blair wasnt corrupt until late in his term when he had to play The Game in order to get anything done at all, money, jobs, favors, ect. It happens tp every one of them no matter what there intentions when they take office. Blair was honest and spoke his mind at the start then The Game came into play.
If I could have gone back in time I would have stopped him.
He should of pulled out a y'al mumma joke at the end.
wtf, why can't the US congress debate like this everyday?
after 11 years, there's a new breed, the "smug labour boy". As a tory myself (and a working-class one) I can't deny that the tories have spawned some useless, smug bastards over the years. We're relatively light on them nowadays, but there's still a few about.
I'd argue that the smugness of too much time in government has very much transferred to the other lot. And having worked under them in a few government departments under contract, i can confirm they are indeed idiots
"weak weak weeaaaakkkk"
haha owned or what
@charlieiscool1000 "No way. Blair was/is a war criminal". "No way blair was is a war criminal". Punctuation. Saves lives.
And I say Britain's greatest Prime Minister was Pitt The Elder. Lord Palmerston. PITT THE ELDER.
The banter!
Strong leaders is the worst kind. A party leader should follow its party as the party is representatives of the people.
oh Tony how we miss you
Now who's leading and who's following? Blair had a genuinely new idea for Labour, they followed it, and they won. Now Brown has come 40 years behind the ideas, and he's not even doing a good impression of a serious '70's Labour nutter.
If governments lose elections rather than oppositions winning them, then he'd best hope no other parties exist whatsoever.
whatever you say about Tony, he was easily one of the greatest speakers and questions-answers debaters I've ever seen. I think highly of almost all his arguments, unfortunately I don't agree with much of the way Labour has implemented many of it's reforms... But I admire Tony Blairs ability to argue his case.
As soon as Tony blair became PM his hair fell out over his timeas premier lol.
@DrakonixZ You mean the debt we acrrued from bailing out the banks and wars in iraq and afghanistan which the Tories would have done as well? There all as bad as each other, none of them will sort out the main problems of the country which are lack housing and unemployment - both of which are contributing to a slow growth economy
Yeh acually... Its like Dejá vu Lol. Blair seems to have lost his abit of his hair and its gone gray XD.
Biggest achievement without a doubt Northen Ireland
Blair was brilliant, most people in the south respected him, or at least all of the republicans i know. Blair was like that of the p.m. 100 years ago, Gladstone, while being a loyal British politician he chose not to deal with republicans with violence but to try and understand where they were coming from, and it worked, nearly.
Look at it.
Is it me, or is David Cameron just Tony Blair in disguise these days. Attacking on personal issues/support, not policies.
I would far prefer that the head of the party follow his party, not lead it! That's the whole bloody point. A prime minister is not a president, thank all that's good.
depends in what way they'd "touch" the NHS. As it is it's a massive beaurocratic organisation that prioritises form-filling and arbitrary targets above actual patient outcomes. Maybe some form of touch may be a good idea. I don't think anyone seriously thinks they'd get rid of it though, or noticeably hike charges for general procedures etc.
they may add the question "how do we actually pay for this?" which the government have skirted for 11 years, with mostly unpleasant consequences
Haha, looks like kindergarden without surveillance!
"Isn't it ironic, that the Prime Minister can't even get his party to support his own position" Look at Brown today...snap.
I think it might have been a Labour member saying 'You are in government', possibly David Blunkett.
Yes but now the defence budget has been over spent by 38 billion pounds hence why there is a cut in 8% defence budget and about time too! Under Labour we were too dependant on the welfare and living on the State too good for TOO long! it is costing us sum £120 million pounds in debt interest per day! Labour were spending and giving things away without knowing how much has been spent. If it was the banks fault then there should have been a Levy on the banks. Also they should have been regulated!
My friend does a great impression of John Major singing Michael Jacksons' Thriller.
"Booooyah motha'fuckah'!" Trashtalking in the parliament, this is how politics all over the world should play out, the one with the best smacktalk wins! Then you have no need for wars!:D
What do you recommend as an alternative?