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New century brings little joy for UK's Blair

LONDON: British leader Harold Wilson once famously said a week is a long time in politics.Tony Blair might wryly reflect that the new millennium already feels a whole lot longer.

For the media mauling he has suffered since the century began over everything from state healthcare to the government's ethical foreign policy could overshadow a major milestone on Wednesday Blair celebrates his first 1,000 days in office.

But Blair, whose spin doctors have turned media presentation into a fine art, said he would not be deflected by the "passing frenzies" of daily headlines.

The populist leader, who led the Labour party out of 18 years in the political wilderness to win a landslide election victory in May 1997, joked that he had "lost count of the number of times this or that week was supposed to be our toughest since taking over."

Blair may still be flying high in opinion polls and the opposition Conservatives are riven by divisions over Europe but the new millennium has been a bruising one for the Labour leader.

The Times, reflecting on Labour's fortunes since the turn of the new century, on Saturday called it "one hell of a month." The Daily Telegraph concluded: "We have reached 2000 but delivery can't be said to have arrived."

And all the papers were quick to chronicle the New Year misfortunes of the Labour government.

The opening of the Millennium Dome, costly centrepiece of Britain's celebrations, ended in recriminations after a ticketing mixup and a "river of fire" display along the Thames that failed to live up to expectations.

A flu epidemic sparked a crisis in the state-funded National Health Service. Spending pledges from Blair only added confusion.

For the first time in six years, Britain's crime figures rose. Pro-British Unionists reacted furiously to reforms of the Northern Ireland police.

The House of Lords, Britain's unelected upper chamber, threw out a bill to limit the right to trial by jury. And a government-sponsored report on reforming the chamber failed to satisfy its supporters and opponents alike.

A row erupted over arms sales to Zimbabwe amid accusations that the government had abandoned its ethical foreign policy.

On Friday, Blair went on the offensive, lashing out at his critics and insisting his government is delivering on its promises. "In the end what is essential is to have a vision and stick to it," he said.

Conservative leader William Hague, himself recovering from his own party's rough ride before Christmas, said of Blair's latest fightback: "Once again he is all talk but no delivery."

Blair the moderniser took over a party that had looked increasingly unelectable. He shed its traditional leftwing image and has in power run an economy that is now thriving.

Labour stays consistently 20 percentage points ahead of the Conservatives in opinion polls and Blair is still favourite to win the next election, expected by the spring of next year.

But, after bruising rows over such key issues as health and transport, the days are long gone when Blair could float, president-style, over the daily political fray. This is the year for delivering on electoral promises.-Reuters