Wednesday, Jul 17, 2002
Wednesday, Jul 17, 2002 |
| International | ||
|
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary | International
By Hasan Suroor
The `historic' confrontation-not witnessed in the Commons in more than 50 years-saw a relaxed and frequently defensive Mr. Blair field a volley of questions ranging from criticism of his `presidential' style of governance and concentration of power in Downing Street to his government's policy on Iraq and why he is constantly echoing Washington. He came in shirtsleeves unaccompanied by aides or notes, called his inquisitors by their first names and frequently cracked jokes at his own cost. ``It was Tony Blair unplugged,'' one commentator remarked and the deliberate informality clearly worked. A snap poll by a TV channel showed that 60 per cent of the people thought his performance was `good' considering that he was up against some of Parliament's most heavy-hitters such as Tony Wright who lost no time in bluntly asking whether he had decided to appear before the committee to rid his government of the charge of `spin'. Of the 35 MPs-all chairmen of various parliament committees-lined up to quiz Mr. Blair only 25 got the chance to do it, but he promised to come again. He said he would be doing this twice a year-and his next appearance is tentatively scheduled in January. Mr. Blair explained that his reason for breaking with an old convention that discouraged Prime Ministers from deposing before parliamentary committees was part of doing things `differently'. "A session like this can show that all of us in Parliament are trying our best to struggle with issues that our constituents bring to us,'' he said. He constantly stressed his desire to "open up'' his Government, and communicate more effectively with the people. He admitted that 80 per cent of the Prime Minister's weekly Question Hour in Parliament was `theatre'. ``There's no point in me coming before a gathering like this unless I were to open up more than I would during the normal knockabout'' he said. But Tories were not convinced and, reacting to the event later, dismissed it as an "empty gesture''. During the `inquisition' which some thought was not `inquisitory' enough, Mr. Blair denied that he was turning Whitehall into White House, defended his stress on a strong Centre, refuted the criticism that he ignored Parliament treating it as no more than a "little inconvenience'' and ran a parallel government from Downing Street. But he insisted that "in the end as Prime Minister, the buck stops with you.'' He criticised the media for concentrating on `froth' instead of issues and policies, and lamented the increasing public disengagement with politics. There was nothing that he said which he had not said earlier, and attempts to draw him out on Iraq evoked the familiar answer that Baghdad did pose a threat to world peace because of its weapons of mass destruction and that it needed to be dealt with. But no decisions had been taken. And, yes, he would consult Parliament when the time came but, no, he would not promise a vote on the issue.
Printer friendly
page
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
|
|
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | Home |
Copyright © 2002, The
Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu
|
