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PEPE THE SHEEP SHAGGER

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It’s a matter of some pride to me that I am one of the few remaining people to retain a measure of admiration for Tony Blair.  It’s always seemed to me that his reputation has been blighted by his biggest mistake.

What is largely overlooked these days about him and his governments is that he

  • Introduced the National Minimum Wage
  • Increased it
  • Saved the monarchy from itself at the time of Diana’s death
  • Secured employment to its highest levels
  • Wrote off the poorest countries’debts
  • Achieved the lowest sustained levels of inflation since the 1960’s.
  • Set minimum holiday entitlements
  • Recruited 85000 more nurses and 14000 more police

The list goes on.

All of which gets forgotten behind the mist of Iraq – a situation not unlike Pepe the Sheep Shagger.

The story goes that an elderly English couple were taking an evening stroll along some Spanish beach when they came across a tanned and weather-beaten old man painting his boat.

They got talking and after a while introduced themselves. But when they asked what the old man’s name was the conversation turned a little cold.

“You see the fish on the market stalls in town every day?” he said.  “I catch those fish. I bring them to market.  I feed the people.  They call me Pepe the Fisherman? No!”

“You see the boats on the shoreline all clean and brightly painted?  I paint those boats.  They call me Pepe the Boatman?  No!”

You see the maisonettes on the hillside with their red roofs?  I make those tiles and lay them on the roofs.  They call me Pepe the Tiler?  No!”.

“I shag one lousy sheep….”

◄ WINNERS AND LOSERS

LADY IN RED ►

Comments

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John Coopey

Mon 12th Jun 2017 22:27

It will be interesting to see how Corbyn will argue a party with 318 MPs has no legitimacy to govern whilst a party with 262 MPs does. The curse of living in interesting times, Harry.

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Harry O'Neill

Mon 12th Jun 2017 16:40

You`ve put your finger on the (only?) reason for Blair`s unpopularity John.

I was always fascinated by the way the daily Mail (even in Blair`s darkest and forgotten days) could never resist linking the name with whatever unpopular subject they could think of. (They always have a `sniff` for their true and potentially powerful enemies.)

A bit of tuition should cure Corbyn of the unfortunate `cut`of his commons question-time performances. I wonder if McDonnell will still be shadow chancellor (and how he will fare against Hammond?

It is difficult to see how Blair could return to the Labour leadership...But after Trump as U.S. President and Corbyn as a possible prime minister almost anything seems to be possible.

Particularly-as M.C. says-the Pope is apparently now on his side...Pray, man, pray!...?

But seriously...what a murky mix of a commons Labour party (now in for five years) Corbyn seems to have landed himself with...it`s going to be a case of watch this space (very carefully).

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M.C. Newberry

Mon 12th Jun 2017 15:32

The hubris is not helped by the "Middle East Peace Envoy" aspect of his post-PM public persona and his conversion to
Roman Catholicism seems to have added to his sense
of belief in the policy he pursued and that may not help
the view posterity takes of his achievements in office.

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John Coopey

Mon 12th Jun 2017 15:11

The very point I was making about his reputation being blighted by his Great Mistake, MC.

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M.C. Newberry

Mon 12th Jun 2017 14:54

JC...
I don't challenge your estimation of the Blair achievements
or your nod in their direction. All are commendable but
perhaps, like Thatcher, he fell victim to hubris, not least in
his stooge to Bush involvement in the latter's eagerness
to finish what his father failed to accomplish in a previous Gulf conflict and redeem the Bush family rep. in rootin'
tootin' ol' boy Texas!! A certain David Kelly was collateral
damage after his personal courage in speaking out on the
official reasons for taking the UK to war.

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John Coopey

Mon 12th Jun 2017 14:40

We travel in opposite directions, MC. As ever (and for you others too) your thoughts are always welcome.

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M.C. Newberry

Mon 12th Jun 2017 13:45

I find these varied opinions stimulating! On a personal
level, I always suspected Blair's on/off smile as less
than sincere. A test for "smilers" is to see how long the
smile remains. The genuine article tends to fade rather
than be "switched off" (the old light bulb!). He (like
Obama) came in - greeted like some young Messiah,
and there's nowhere left from there but down. From
another personal POV, I can't forgive his double act with
Blunkett- abandoning UK borders to the world and its
dog: the effects of which were, are, and will be felt
in many ways, not least the pressure on our essential
social services and our vulnerable countryside as these
islands try to accommodate the demands of the added millions and their offspring even as the Western world
becomes less reliant on human employment and more on
artificial/electronic additions to the work and leisure
environments.
As for Mr Corbyn, he offers another variety of hope but in my lifetime I've never seen a Labour administration that handles the money competently or carefully.

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John Coopey

Mon 12th Jun 2017 12:06

We travel in opposite directions, Lancs.

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John Coopey

Mon 12th Jun 2017 09:59

Lancs - It is indeed a salutary lesson to consider what Labour might have achieved were it not for refuseniks like myself who decided after 45 years of doing so not to vote for them this time.

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Graham Sherwood

Mon 12th Jun 2017 09:45

In the interests of balance, perhaps it is worth reading what our friends from over the pond think of our most recent deliberations

http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-book-of-jeremy-corbyn

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