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Tuesday, 1 October, 2002, 09:13 GMT 10:13 UK
Are blair becoming dirtier?

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Mr Blair's speech is not yet over, and he speaks with much confidence and conviction. He notes that United Nations resolutions need to be obeyed. He says this includes Israel in relation to the Palestinians. Will he say, then, that if Israel is given a fixed time to implement UN resolutions, the UN should be asked to take whatever action is necessary to make Israel comply? In Mr Blair's new world of radical reform, oppression is something which is selectively considered. I am still listening to Mr Blair. But I know already that his assuredness is not based on a dispassionate morality, but a passionate politics of power. Sad.
Bob Ferguson, UK


The amount of litter is directly related to the 'nothing is my fault' culture in which we live. Everything is somebody else's fault. Litter is not the fault of those dropping it because somebody else should be cleaning it up ie the councils to whom we pay our council tax. Councils don't help themselves however. If councils offered a free refuse service then fly tipping would disappear overnight and help reduce the litter culture.
David Priddy, UK


Britain has always been a filthy, grimy place to live - it's just the nature of the filth that's changed. One hundred years ago it was black smoke, soot and horse droppings. Today it's fast food wrappers, plastic bags and car exhaust fumes. We could learn a great lesson from our European neighbours who generally have cleaner streets, more recycling, better rubbish disposal, are less in thrall to fast food and are less likely to drop litter in the street. It's no wonder London has an explosion in the rat and pigeon population. We only have ourselves, and our anti-social habits, to blame.
John G, London, UK

Sadly London has become as dirty as many US cities. I see lazy people dropping litter everywhere but in a bin. It is true there aren't enough bins around, but having generated the litter, people should take it home then. My street in Tower Hamlets had all new bins put in; bizarrely, they were all stolen within days. That kind of antisocial behaviour doesn't help either. It would be nice if local councils stopped spending money on political correctness and went back to providing useful services to the public.
Arri London, EU/US

The poor have stopped listening and Blair's middle classes love it. His policy structures and governmental cloaking allow him to move seamlessly from issue to issue. This allows them to meddle with everything but solve nothing and at the same time give everyone a feeling of familiarity with a common cause.
J Ford, UK

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