Almost two years ago, Blair was the most belligerent member of NATO, cajoling and haranguing the rest of the ramshackle organization into an unwise intervention in a civil war in the Balkans; did he really think that a few sanctimonious gestures and words were a formula for an humanitarian foreign policy ? This is the result. Will Blair take the risk of another military action with an election due ? And will the Guardian and its readers be so keen to back him again ? The daily TV news broadcast footage is starting to merge in grotesque fashion: are those smoking hillsides near Skopje or Penrith ?
Suddenly, its all coming to pieces; yesterday afternoon, on the usual Sunday TV interview with Dimbelby, the acting minister for Agriculture, Nick Brown, admitted that he doesnt really understand the details of the current Foot & Mouth slaughter and exclusion policy... astonishing ! So who, may we ask, does know ? His chief vetinary surgeon, Jim "Scud" Scudamore perhaps ? Is this government now literally being run by the Civil Service after all ? The answer sems to be, Yes, Minister !
So, said vetinary rushes up to Cumbria to hold a much-trumpeted public meeting with the local farmers who, (whatever their faults in the eyes of city dwellers), have taken just about all they can of this farce. They duly turn up, only to find that its by invitation only, and that he's only come to "explain" the impending slaughter of healthy stock, not to take advice on the policy. As if they needed an explanation !
It is, co-incidentally, Lady Day next week: This charmingly, quaintly named day spells potential disaster for small farmers, for this is the day when the aristocracy collect their rent; The Crown, the Church of England, the Dukes and Duchesses require their cash, and whilst yesterday's "Sunday Business" suggests they may be amenable to a postponement of the millions due, its by no means guaranteed that the smaller holders will survive to pay it at the end of the year. If Gordon Brown really wanted to "Drop the Debt", he might care to abolish the landed aristocracy completely.