George Bush is here.

Although Tony Blair tells us to stand by him, many others would rather not want him here. Both the protesters and the President will have a busy schedule, while one in nine English police officers will be there to keep the peace. The US authorities have been making absurd demands, like shutting the Tube and giving all American marksmen diplomatic immunity, as well as bringing a fleet of military vehicles, which makes this more of a sort of imperialistic military show of might than a visit to a fellow nation state. With all the controversy, you may wonder - whose idea was it, and why? Is this just a way of advancing Bush politically with a nice photo-op, and why the hell is a Labour Prime Minister helping a Republican president in his campaign?

Still, Bush has some friends here, and there is growing opinion that ths fuss over Bush is distracting us from Tony Blair. This is a fair point. Blair has ignored his own party and people in his quest to be America’s best friend. Yet he’s managed to come out of all this without too much mud sticking, the Hutton enquiry has managed to distract us all from the bigger questions surrounding the war and occupation, and it’s given him a neat scapegoat in Geoff Hoon. Even the ousting of IDS could work in his favour, as the resurgent threat from Michael Howard could galvanise Blair’s mutinous party back into a unified force.

I’ll be marching on Thursday to voice my displeasure at the President and his visit, but let’s not forget who has been dragging us along on this sorry escapade all this time.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 18th, 2003 at 19:04:11 and is filed under General.