except he keeps saying GLOBAL (fair point but we've got it by now Gordon)...

He has no charm or charisma at all but he does seem to know what he's doing (whether it is right or wrong) and has one huge advantage Blair never had - he clearly doesn't care whether anyone likes him.

But that is the problem - he sees himself as part of a GLOBAL government rather than our Prime Minister. Surely that is evidence enough of a NWO type of plan behind the current economic and military issues.

What worries me is that he has no real policies. The 100,000 job annoucement is based on POSTERS not actual new jobs. He wont lay out the new jobs in print because they dont exist. He keeps announcing he has saved us - then we keep getting deeper into the mire.

He is exactly like Blair in the sense that he keeps repeating himself. Remember Weapons of Mass Destruction - even til today Blair says they exist in the face of every bit of evidence that says they did not exist. This is "I say it enough times so that I believe it is true" type of Government is dangerous.

I would prefer DOCTOR WHO to be put in charge !

"he clearly doesn't care whether anyone likes him."

just as well..no-one does !!

Why does he need charm or charisma? Is it part of the criteria? Cant remember Churchill or Thatcher having any of the above. Is it not more important that he gets on with the job?

quite correct..the ability to do the job is the most important thing.

But surely Churchill and Thatcher had charisma in spades !

I never understood why people adored Thatcher (in particular all those Tory MPs !) until one day long after she had retired she was to attend something at a hotel where a friend of mine was the manager. I was visiting this friend at the time and she asked me if I could take a quick photo of her greeting Mrs Thatcher at the front door.

I readily agreed and the great lady arrived..I marvelled at how she looked much softer in the flesh..was smaller and had flawless skin. I took the photo and then ..she snapped at me.."I wasn't ready then..do it again !".

I practically prostrated myself at her feet in fear..and then I finally knew what all those Conservatives were on about !

Thatcher had more charisma than anyone else I ever interviewed.

I met John Major in the mid 90s when he was doing some constituency stuff and thought he was a decent and polite bloke to be honest. Perhaps too decent, too nice, for the job - Spitting Image had that side to him in spades.

Ask anyone North of the border what they think of Thatcher and you'll get nothing but negativity. Anyone who wanted rid of the welfare system is downright evil and don't get me started on the Poll Tax. Very charismatic...

Thatcher wanted people off welfare.

Surely that is a good thing ?

Making welfare a "career" which is what many people in Scotland and the North of England now see it as ( according to the press who say there are towns that have 90% on benefit in the North ) is surely a waste of a human life ?

Surely Thatcher was right to want to make welfare less attractive than a job ? incentives.

I still think that if Brown had followed Thatcherite spending plans then we would now be in a sustained economic period of growth ( possibly without the massive property boom and bubble of credit ) but genuine real growth.

What Labour has done is to borrow money and get everyone into debt. That is ridiculous. It is the old "money for nothing" idea which they seem to promote.

The poor in the UK were better off under Thatcher and the rich worse off. There is no better way to understand her actual policies than that. She did not have a silver spoon. She worked hard and saved for what she wanted. She had the "work ethic".

BR wrote:
Thatcher wanted people off welfare.

Surely that is a good thing ?

Making welfare a "career" which is what many people in Scotland and the North of England now see it as ( according to the press who say there are towns that have 90% on benefit in the North.

BR your comment about how the Scottish and North of England abuse the welfare system comes from The Press. The same press you lambast in many of your previous threads. As far as i'm concerned, yes it is abused by some (South of the border too, as it happens) but it is in place to help others less fortunate than us. Given the rants you post daily about the state of this country and where it is heading, i would have thought you may have seen the current welfare system as a positive. Thatcher sold Scotland down the river. All the industries, ship building, car manufacturing, steel have now gone. This may have been required but not in the way it was carried out by the then Government. She raped Scotalnd and the people of Scotland never forgot. I suppose you would have preferred that the NHS was gone also? You are an idealist BR not to mention a narrow minded racist.