Government Bureaucracy and the Parliamentary System - Tony Blair
My apology: I attributed this to John Wonder, who assures me that he has a great admiration for Blair. It
came from John Heelan in the UK.
Ronald Hilton - 11/3/01
John wrote: "The actions of the Blair Government (or should that be "Administration"?) seem to be pushing
UK governance away from a parliamentary system to a presidential model. Blair is adopting a presidential
role rather than the traditional 'primus inter pares' status of a Prime Minister; Cherie Blair is being referred
to by the media as the "First Lady"; Cabinet Ministers are answering for their actions to the media first
rather than to the Commons; political appointees run the Quangos and NGOs; political spin-doctors are
taking management precedence over the traditionally apolitical Civil Service. Soon "10 Downing Street"
could well become "White House (East)" and the UK Orwell's "Runway One".
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