Mr Blair's end of term report

12 April 2012
Evening Standard editorial comment

MPs begin their long summer break today after the most memorable session of parliament since New Labour swept to power. The Chancellor's massive bonanza for the public services has defined the political battle until the next election and beyond. Since Gordon Brown's spending review a couple of weeks ago, no one can say that politics is uneventful. On the evidence of the early skirmishes, Labour ministers will leave for their beach or Tuscan villa in considerably better cheer than the Opposition front bench.

Tony Blair can be content that the public, so far, has given him the benefit of the doubt about Labour's tax rises to fund huge new spending on hospitals, schools and transport. The strategy may be more Gordon Brown's than the Prime Minister's, but it is a big bold gamble on which they have together staked their combined reputations. We remain sceptical about whether pouring unprecedented extra billions into public services before there is a detailed reform plan will work - some might argue it could be irresponsibly wasteful.

But perhaps more in hope than expectation, the public, for now, seems willing to pay the price of such optimism. The Prime Minister is also facing the prospect of the worst union unrest of his premiership. He has been the fortunate beneficiary of a tight labour market and a period in which most unions were happy to have a Labour government rather than a Tory one. That had to end sometime - and it is undoubtedly the case that Mr Brown's injection of a vast amount of cash has encouraged, and will encourage, militancy. But at least the Government has a clear thrust to what it now stands for. The Tories have not materially improved their position. We still have a weak Opposition and the clock is ticking towards the next election.

Iain Duncan Smith may not overnight have captured the nation's affection and respect. Undoubtedly, however, voters believe he is a considerable improvement on William Hague. Yet every time the Conservatives seem to make some progress - by emphasizing that they too take the public services seriously - they contrive simultaneously to take two steps backwards. This week's clumsy removal of Party chairman David Davis, on the day IDS was in Stockholm looking at the way Swedes handle drugs policy, showed that the Tories have learned very little from the last decade. They remain obsessed with their own internal splits, a subject that induces profound boredom in everybody outside their ranks. Will Labour's expensive, high risk policies on education and health work? Probably not in the sense of transforming them. But one thing is certain. The Conservatives will be in no position to benefit unless they can raise their game after the holiday period is over.

Sport sanctions

The Commonwealth Games open today in Manchester. Among the 72 countries taking part in this festival of harmony is Zimbabwe, a country disfigured by outrageous abuses of human rights, which has already been suspended from the Commonwealth. The regime of Robert Mugabe is corrupt and despotic. So why is the country taking part in the games? Admittedly, the question of boycotting cultural and sporting contact with countries of which we disapprove is a vexed one, but in the case of Zimbabwe, our disgust with the regime can only be expressed by such means. The European Union has just extended its ban on the President's entourage from entering EU territory; in the context of such collective action against the Mugabe regime, it is grotesque that Zimbabwe should be represented in Manchester.

Revolting commuters

According to figures from the Rail Passengers' Council, complaints from train passengers have risen by 146 per cent in the last year. The numbers are hardly surprising, given the nature of the service; what is remarkable is that so many commuters found the means to express their vexation. Tracking down an official complaint form to register dissatisfaction is an art in itself. Often, it involves queueing at a Customer Service desk, an expenditure of time few people can afford when they are already late because of their delayed train. What passengers need at the end of every delayed journey is a steward making a bundle of complaint forms available to enraged commuters. That is the only way train operators would really know what we think of them. Small chance it will happen, then.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in