Last week many of you posed questions about why British Prime Minister Tony Blair has been replaced as head of Parlaiment by PM Gordon Brown. Here's your chance to find out and learn more about the legislative process in the United Kingdom.Directions:
1. Read:
A) “Tony Blair to Resign in a Year”
ABC News
http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=2405434&page=1
AND
One of the following articles and explore one of it’s hyperlinked sources (may be text, video, image or audio files):
B) Blair “My political journey is over” 5/10/07
CNN News
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/05/10/blair.announcement/index.html
OR
C) “British Prime Minister Announces His Resignation”
MTV News
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1559212/20070510/index.jhtml
2. Summarize the articles, emphasizing the primary reasons UK Prime Minister Tony Blair voluntarily resigned in 2007s. Explain what these sources tell you about the role of the Prime Minister, his/her relationship with the Parliament and the role of political parties in the UK Parliament.
3. Answer one or more of the following questions:
- How does Blair’s resignation compare to the US Presidential resignations we’ve learned about in class (Nixon, Clinton and Jackson)?
- What does this say about the differences in the governments of the United Kingdom and the United States?
- Based on your knowledge and the articles, why did MP's and Britons believe Brown's policies would better serve the interests of the UK?
Your post must be a minimum of 250 words.
Be sure to comment or question a peer's response.
14 comments:
good afternoon masters and madams,
A.)It seems much of the resignation of Tony Blair, British Prime Minister, is linked to the United States, especially America's leader, President Bush. Controversy began to unwind after Blair and Bush unofficially began to talk. Thus, British opposers scorned Blair by calling referring to him as a teacher's pet, America being the teacher. Opposition of Blair grew stronger when he involved and brought Britain into the Iraq war, much of Blair's party was aware that was an unwise decision, so they pulled out then. The war involvement made the British seem like they were being nudged more and more, to something they were unrelated to, and I can see where they're coming form. I liked how the war was referred to as the elephant in the room" since it really is. No matter how appealing a leader might be, if they involve their country in an unnecessary and prolonging war, there will be tension and some opposition against that person. Even Blair's cabinet know the future is not bright, and encouraged him to step down for the best regards for their country. SOme people, such as Blair's successor, still stand by him. However, due to the controversy, criticism, and the best intentions for the country, Blair announced the resignation.
C.) Despite Blair's successful emergence of the Labour Party, due to his scandals and controversies mostly dealing with the Iraq, he is resigning as Prime Minister. Stepping down as a leader of the Labour Party, other members are were eyeing the position. Blair believed the country needed a breath of fresh air, which is actually quite noble of him to admit. Amongst his accomplishments, he sparked the Labour Party, stabilized Northern Ireland with peace and prosperity. Also, he handled the London bombing in a calm fashion, ad aided Africa. On the other hand, Blair supported the war on Iraq, and became America's pet. With his increased involvement in the war, where Britain's involvement wasn't too necessary, his supporters decreased. His popularity decreased with every British solider that died in Iraq, which is actually similar to Bush. According to polls, England would remember Blair as a change, good and bad.
In accordance to these articles, it seems that the Prime Minister role is to do what's best for his country, represent the people, more then his/her self, which explains why Blair stepped down. Similar to the parliament, even if they like Blair as a person, it seems they can't let that affect the state of their country. The political parties can't hold something as serious as war opposition back, which is why they highly spoke up. The Parliament is they for the people, to represent their voices, and they did.
British believed Brown's policies would better serve Britain since he promised financial stability. His main concerns and priories are stronger banks, unfrozen markets, greater transparency and international supervision, which Brown's remedy for Britain.
xoxo,
princess kimberly gangemi
I LOVE
WET PUSSY
AND
Little BOys
The articles that I read thoroughly discussed the scandal of Tony Blair, and how he resigned. After reading the articles I feel that the resignation of Brittan’s Prime minister, Tony Blair, is in many ways related to the present day leader of the United States George Bush. Much of the controversy began when the two supposedly came in contact with each other. Many Anti-Blair citizens began calling Tony “America's lapdog”, after he made the decision to put Brittan in the war in Iraq. Brittan then realized that being in the war was an extreme inconvenience to them, which led to them pulling themselves out of the war, which is also referred to the “elephant in the room” in the first article. Brittan then began to realize that if Blair had not began speaking to Bush, then they would not have been pushed into the war that Brittan had nothing to do with. Even though today many people still like to live by Blair’s ways, the majority of Brittan disagreed with doings, Tony Blair felt that Brittan would be better off without him, therefore, he announced his resignation.
-Mike Orr
^^^^^^^^^^^ I answered the first question =]
Gerald Lara
C Block
After reading the article "Tony Blair is to resign in a year" , i gain a different perspective of the prime minister from the British view. it seems that Prime Minister Blair was disliked by the government, and even members of his own party and cabinet. His political view and support of the iraq war gave him unfavorable odds with his country. he was disliked by many on his views on the war, and continuous support for president bush. His resignation seems to be a sign of relief to the government and members of parliament. Though the date is not yet set in stone, it seems from this article that people were just waiting for it.
The music telivision website also posted an article called "British Prime Minister Tony Blair Announces His Resignation" aslo depicts the tale of Prime minister dislike in his home country. People had enough of Blair being "Bush's lap dog" and embarassing the country. His is set to resign June 27 of next year.
Tony Blair resignation is very comparable to the impeachment of president nixon. they both resigned due the public's opinion, and dislike for their representaion in the government. They both were pressured into resigning due to their actions, and what others were prepared to do. They resigned because they did not want to cause more embarrassment for themselves and for the country.
By answering questions one and two; how Anthony Charles Lynton Blair, publicly known as Tony Blair, Prime Minster of the United Kingdom’s resignation compared to the United States Presidential resignations such as Nixon, Clinton and Jackson and the differences between Parliamentary and Presidency, has strengthened myself in developing a better understanding of the United Kingdoms government, as well as the United States government. The news story on the infamous, “Page Six,” of Carrie Bradshaw and John James Preston engagement played a rising action in the movie, Sex and the City, as did page eleven of, Do Institutions Matter? Government Capabilities in the United States and Abroad, novel by R. Kent Weaver and Bert A. Rockman. Page eleven specially began outlining basic structural differences between the two capital “P’s,” then contrasted their decision-making processes and the implications of these differences for government capabilities.
Unlike Chief of State and Head of Government, George W. Bush, our current president, Queen Elizabeth, who had reined since February of 1952, is not Head of State. Within the United Kingdom the heir inherits the thrown, or Chief of State while citizens vote for their Prime Minister. However, both Head of Government electives are responsible for the Cabinets seats. Within the Legislative Branch, both also hold a bicameral Congress (House of Representatives and Senate) and Parliament (House of Lords and House of Commons), as the list comparing and contrasting proceeds to go on.
As the similarities between our governments grew “finishing each others sentences,” so to say, Blair and Bush’s goals and ambitions became more and more similar. As Michael Orr and Gerald Lara stated, “Many Anti-Blair citizens began calling Tony “America's lapdog”, after he made the decision to put Brittan in the war in Iraq,” and “His political view and support of the Iraq war gave him unfavorable odds with his country. he was disliked by many on his views on the war, and continuous support for president bush. His resignation seems to be a sign of relief to the government and members of parliament.” In agreement with Kimberly Gangemi, “Even Blair's cabinet knew the future was not bright, and encouraged him to step down for the best regards for their country,” as did Nixon’s party.
*By the way, Ger, you stated, “He [Tony Blair] is set to resign June 27 of next year,” actually, he had already resigned! June 27, 2007, after a little over ten years after he was placed in office, was when he stepped down. James Gordon Brown, publicly known as just Gordon Brown assumed office three days after Tony Blair resigned. (:
Quelmi
Block C
The MTV article "British Prime Minister Tony Blair Announces His Resignation" By Gil Kaufman talks about British Prime Minister, Tony Blair resigning from his title. On May 10th Tony Blair announced that he would formally step down after a decade and after leading his Labour party back into power in Britan. According to Reuters here is what Blair has to say "I think that's long enough, not only for me, but also for the country and sometimes the only way you conquer the pull of power is to set it down." Controversy came from Blair’s support of United States President George Bush and the War in Iraq.
Blair’s resignation compares to the previous US Presidential resignations we’ve learned about in class because they all went about it the same way. They all announced formally to the citizens and the world about their resignation and the reasoning for there decision. Just like President Nixon, Bliar resigned because of what the people thought of them. Because of Blair’s support of Bush on the unpopular war in Iraq many considered him to be what they called “Bush’s Lap Dog”. He also had British soldiers sent over and 150 of them were killed. According to the Guardian newspaper in England “60 percent of voters predicting that Blair would be remembered as a force of change in the country, though not necessarily all of it good.”
I can't figure out how to delete that disgusting comment. I appologize for the inappropriate language and think that the poster should find something better to do with his/her time. Ew.
Quelmi- G: Informed and thoughtful. Unfortunately, Jackson DID get impeached without resigning, so your post isn't 100% accurate.
Princess Kimi - E: Analytical and detailed.
Mike O - S-: Straightforward and accurate post, but you didn't reflect on one of the other sources.
Gerald - G-:Read carefully, these articles are dated. Brown has been Prime Minister since June 07, which Michela caught before I did!
Michela - E-: Insightful work though a little quote heavy. Be sure there's more of "you" in your post.
I can't figure out how to delete that disgusting comment. I appologize for the inappropriate language and think that the poster should find something better to do with his/her time. Ew.
Quelmi- G: Informed and thoughtful. Unfortunately, Jackson DID get impeached without resigning, so your post isn't 100% accurate.
Princess Kimi - E: Analytical and detailed.
Mike O - S-: Straightforward and accurate post, but you didn't reflect on one of the other sources.
Gerald - G-:Read carefully, these articles are dated. Brown has been Prime Minister since June 07, which Michela caught before I did!
Michela - E-: Insightful work though a little quote heavy. Be sure there's more of "you" in your post.
Loretta Au
“Tony Blair to Resign in a Year” by Aparnaa Seshadri is about the pressure Blair has from his party to step down. After receiving criticism from the British public and his own party, mostly from his support of President Bush, Blair announced he would resign in a year. Blair was called “America’s lapdog” because of his respect to Bush after being seen speaking to him informally. The Labor Party disapproved for Blair, saying he led the country into the Iraq War. The UK is against the Iraq War, as nine members of government resigned in the run-up to Iraq War. An increasing amount of government members have been resigning, and Blair resignation in office would serve the country’s best interests. The same news was also broadcasted on MTV’s website. “British Prime Minister Tony Blair Announces His Resignation” by Gil Kaufman. The article starts explaining the effect of Blair’s announcement of resignation, which has caused ‘a scramble for the Labour leadership’. In Blair’s speech, he said that 10 years has been enough time of power for him and the country. Blair used to have support from his country even after Princess Diana’s death, terrorist bombings in London, and his push for African aid, but now the country’s support has decreased drastically for his support of Bush’s policies on Iraq. Another reason for his country’s criticism against him is the political party funding scandal. Twice detectives questioned him as a witness about allegations that his government traded honors for political contributions. Despite the country’s lack of fondness of him, Blair has made many changes in the country during his 10 years at Prime Minister. Blair’s resignation is similar to those of US Presidential resignations. Nixon, Clinton, Jackson and Blair each made a resignation speech to the public informing them of time they will be resigning. Their resignations are due to the public’s harsh ongoing criticism for their disagreement in the leader’s actions and views. Like Clinton, Blair was involved in a scandal, which ultimately harmed his reputation as the Prime Minister.
Jusin Lefkowitz
C Block
It seems like Tony Blair's run at the top has finally come to an end. After a total of nine years as the Prime Minister of Britain, he seems to finally be calling it quits. The main reason for why PM Blair is retiring is because many people do not agree with the way that he has been running things. Often referred to as President George W. Bush’s “lapdog”, Tony Blair seemed to follow the United States into almost anything we ever did. Tony Blair was viewed as a follower in the eyes of the British Members of Parliament and the people of Britain. Tony Blair was one of President Bush’s best friends, and as a result, he felt that he had to back up his buddy President Bush in almost everything he ever did. When the U.S. entered the War in Afghanistan and the War in Iraq, PM Tony Blair and his British soldiers followed the way that was paved by Bush and the U.S. soldiers. Maybe if Tony Blair only worked with President Bush as more of a colleague, rather than more of a friend, he would’ve remained the loved Prime Minister of Britain.
Tony Blair’s resignation is not really too much like that of U.S. Presidents including Nixon and Jackson. These two U.S. Presidents actually committed crimes, and as a result, they had to resign or else they would be impeached. In Britain, the talks of a possible impeachment for Tony Blair were not really talked about. It’s not like Tony Blair was on the chopping block. All he did wrong was act like the puppet of George W. Bush. If anything, the biggest possible penalty for acting like a puppet is being made fun of. President George W. Bush gets made fun of all the time for his actions and so did Sarah Palin. These two leaders did not resign from anything though. If I was PM Tony Blair, I probably would not have stepped down from the position of British Prime Minister. If anything, I probably would’ve changed the way that I ran the British political system.
I agree with Michael Orr when he says, “the resignation of Britain’s Prime minister, Tony Blair, is in many ways related to the present day leader of the United States George W. Bush.” Maybe if PM Tony Blair was a leader, rather than a follower, he would’ve been loved by all the Britons and he would’ve definitely kept his job.
Christopher Morawed
C Block
History
After reading the article about Tony Blair’s Resignation in the upcoming year I noticed that it has caused an upbringing of controversial effects in the media. The most controversial aspect that even shocked me was that Tony Blair brought in Britain into the war this caused his followers to question him. Along with that his party followers withdraw from being in cahoots with Tony Blair. As Gerald stated which I agree with, the government does not really take a liking to Tony Blair. With his actions however, I do believe that the parties behind Blair did a good thing resigning because if they followed his wrongdoing, they might have faced going down with him and ruining their names. Tony Blair is going to resign in June of next year. I believe that this might be best for him despite his positive actions. Along with him being disliked by many, his liking to Bush, did not help him anymore because many disliked Bush as well.
Mike McSherry
It looks like Tony Blair resigned from his job of prime minister of England because of the war in Iraq. Over the nine years of which he was in office Blair brought many changes to England, but Blair's popularity went down when he decided to help America with the year in Iraq. Soon people thought that Blair was America's lapdog and Bush's BFF. Blair lost support from the labor party and the people of England. Blair had no chocie and decidced to resign because his veiws did not macth the veiws of the Brithish people.
Post a Comment