The Assassination of Tony Blair - A British TL
- Thread starter The cravinator
- Start date
Spring 2000
April to June 2000
Chancellor Alistair Darling issued his budget in March, which formally created the wealth tax in the UK.
On March 21, 2000, Chancellor Alistair Darling put the policies advocated for in the Third Millennium pamphlet into action in the annual budget, the first time they had been enshrined into legislation. The budget created the new wealth tax as promised, at 1% on assets above £2 million. The budget initially received a positive reaction from the public, however was hounded at by the right-wing commentators in the UK. Even the Sun, which had previously supported Labour, referred to the budget as 'a return to the 1970s' a time that was still fresh in the memory of many Britons and the fear of which had maintained three decades of neoliberal Governments.
Labour remained solidly ahead in the polls, however after the budget its lead began dipping only to around ten points, with it being predicted to win a majority of 60 in the next election, far less than what it received in 1997. It was due to this that for 2000 at least, Gordon Brown called off any chance of an election. However, it was not the case that any kind of election was not in the public mindset, as in May 2000 the first Greater London mayoral elections came around. The chances, however, looked rather bleak for Labour. The main left-wing candidate, Ken Livingstone, stood as an independent and managed to far overtake Blairite Labour candidate Frank Dobson in the polls. The race looked more like a race between Livingstone and the conservative candidate, Stephen Norris, than between Dobson and Norris. Labour was ultimately embarrassed on the night, with Dobson being eliminated in the first round with only 16% of the vote with Livingston and Norris carrying into the second round. Livingston won comfortably in the second round with 59% of the vote up against Norris. The entire debacle was a huge embarrassment to Gordon Brown and further slumped his poll numbers to a lead of seven or eight points.
The victory of Ken Livingstone in the London elections on May 4th were a major embarrassment for Brown as Labour's official candidate fell into 3rd place.
In the London Assembly elections, Labour managed to edge out largest party with 10 seats, with the Tories on 7, the Lib Dems on 5 and the Greens on 3. Labour managed to edge out a coalition with the Lib Dems and Greens, uniting to deliver common policies. In other local elections, Labour mainly held their ground, losing control of some councils including Bradford, Oldham, Walsall and Wirral to No Overall Control (NOC). Contrary to popular polling, Labour managed to prevent the Lib Dems from gaining full control over Oldham council as had been hoped by the Lib Dems' new leader Charles Kennedy. Labour managed to fend off Calderdale from becoming a Tory council, maintaining it as a NOC. However, this was irrelevant to the press compared to the disaster in the London Mayor Elections, which were used by the increasingly agitated right-wing press to run hit pieces against Gordon Brown's Government.
The vast majority of the gains at the election were going to the Lib Dems and not to the Tories, however, who maintained their 1997 slump levels in most places. This was shown in the by-election held in the Conservative stronghold of Romsey in Hampshire, where the Lib Dems managed to win in a seat the Tories had maintained control of since its creation, even in 1997. This combined with bad results in the London and local elections put extreme pressure on William Hague's leadership, with his own cabinet ministers now plotting against him.
Despite some Labour losses, the local elections were mainly gains for the Lib Dems and the Tories slumped even further, causing many Tories to secretly begin a plan to oust their leader.
Shadow Home Secretary Theresa May began secret negotiations with Tory donors and press backers to have a co-ordinated plan to have a new leader installed. The chosen candidate was generally believed to be Michael Heseltine, however there was some debate as to who would run. Heseltine had been ousted from the Cabinet after the 1997 election loss and was looking for revenge, so was believed to be a good candidate. It was May who would fire the starting gun, planning to resign as shadow home secretary and then deliver an attack on Hague's leadership in a 'Geoffrey Howe style' manoeuvre that would rile up other MPs, that would then spur on Heseltine's leadership challenge. It was known that many MPs on the tory benches were sick to the stomach of the prospect of Labour winning a full second term in power, something that had never happened before in the UK, and would gladly throw out Hague in order to avoid it.
Meanwhile in London, new Mayor Ken Livingstone had the opportunity to use his acceptance speech as an attack on Blair and Brown, calling the Third Millennium pamphlet "capitalist thus anti-socialist and thus anti-Labour to its core". Livingstone was the most successful socialist politician in the UK since the 1970s and began his tenure with a popular PR stunt, as he opened up the new Croydon Tramlink scheme, a tram line between Croydon and Wimbledon where a Tube extension had been considered too expensive, and the first tram line in London since 1952. Livingstone opened the scheme referencing a socialist admiration for public transport, saying it was only possible with "collective and socialist effort to build better transport for all, not just the elites" and used the opening speech to attack rail privatisation.
The new Croydon Tramlink was a symbol of collective rather than private transport, which fitted in with Mayor Ken Livingstone's socialist ideals.
Chancellor Alistair Darling issued his budget in March, which formally created the wealth tax in the UK.
On March 21, 2000, Chancellor Alistair Darling put the policies advocated for in the Third Millennium pamphlet into action in the annual budget, the first time they had been enshrined into legislation. The budget created the new wealth tax as promised, at 1% on assets above £2 million. The budget initially received a positive reaction from the public, however was hounded at by the right-wing commentators in the UK. Even the Sun, which had previously supported Labour, referred to the budget as 'a return to the 1970s' a time that was still fresh in the memory of many Britons and the fear of which had maintained three decades of neoliberal Governments.
Labour remained solidly ahead in the polls, however after the budget its lead began dipping only to around ten points, with it being predicted to win a majority of 60 in the next election, far less than what it received in 1997. It was due to this that for 2000 at least, Gordon Brown called off any chance of an election. However, it was not the case that any kind of election was not in the public mindset, as in May 2000 the first Greater London mayoral elections came around. The chances, however, looked rather bleak for Labour. The main left-wing candidate, Ken Livingstone, stood as an independent and managed to far overtake Blairite Labour candidate Frank Dobson in the polls. The race looked more like a race between Livingstone and the conservative candidate, Stephen Norris, than between Dobson and Norris. Labour was ultimately embarrassed on the night, with Dobson being eliminated in the first round with only 16% of the vote with Livingston and Norris carrying into the second round. Livingston won comfortably in the second round with 59% of the vote up against Norris. The entire debacle was a huge embarrassment to Gordon Brown and further slumped his poll numbers to a lead of seven or eight points.
The victory of Ken Livingstone in the London elections on May 4th were a major embarrassment for Brown as Labour's official candidate fell into 3rd place.
In the London Assembly elections, Labour managed to edge out largest party with 10 seats, with the Tories on 7, the Lib Dems on 5 and the Greens on 3. Labour managed to edge out a coalition with the Lib Dems and Greens, uniting to deliver common policies. In other local elections, Labour mainly held their ground, losing control of some councils including Bradford, Oldham, Walsall and Wirral to No Overall Control (NOC). Contrary to popular polling, Labour managed to prevent the Lib Dems from gaining full control over Oldham council as had been hoped by the Lib Dems' new leader Charles Kennedy. Labour managed to fend off Calderdale from becoming a Tory council, maintaining it as a NOC. However, this was irrelevant to the press compared to the disaster in the London Mayor Elections, which were used by the increasingly agitated right-wing press to run hit pieces against Gordon Brown's Government.
The vast majority of the gains at the election were going to the Lib Dems and not to the Tories, however, who maintained their 1997 slump levels in most places. This was shown in the by-election held in the Conservative stronghold of Romsey in Hampshire, where the Lib Dems managed to win in a seat the Tories had maintained control of since its creation, even in 1997. This combined with bad results in the London and local elections put extreme pressure on William Hague's leadership, with his own cabinet ministers now plotting against him.
Despite some Labour losses, the local elections were mainly gains for the Lib Dems and the Tories slumped even further, causing many Tories to secretly begin a plan to oust their leader.
Shadow Home Secretary Theresa May began secret negotiations with Tory donors and press backers to have a co-ordinated plan to have a new leader installed. The chosen candidate was generally believed to be Michael Heseltine, however there was some debate as to who would run. Heseltine had been ousted from the Cabinet after the 1997 election loss and was looking for revenge, so was believed to be a good candidate. It was May who would fire the starting gun, planning to resign as shadow home secretary and then deliver an attack on Hague's leadership in a 'Geoffrey Howe style' manoeuvre that would rile up other MPs, that would then spur on Heseltine's leadership challenge. It was known that many MPs on the tory benches were sick to the stomach of the prospect of Labour winning a full second term in power, something that had never happened before in the UK, and would gladly throw out Hague in order to avoid it.
Meanwhile in London, new Mayor Ken Livingstone had the opportunity to use his acceptance speech as an attack on Blair and Brown, calling the Third Millennium pamphlet "capitalist thus anti-socialist and thus anti-Labour to its core". Livingstone was the most successful socialist politician in the UK since the 1970s and began his tenure with a popular PR stunt, as he opened up the new Croydon Tramlink scheme, a tram line between Croydon and Wimbledon where a Tube extension had been considered too expensive, and the first tram line in London since 1952. Livingstone opened the scheme referencing a socialist admiration for public transport, saying it was only possible with "collective and socialist effort to build better transport for all, not just the elites" and used the opening speech to attack rail privatisation.
The new Croydon Tramlink was a symbol of collective rather than private transport, which fitted in with Mayor Ken Livingstone's socialist ideals.
Summer 2000
June to September 2000
Osama Bin Laden, wanted in the US, remained on the run in Pakistan.
On the 16th June, 2000, the CIA announced they had, due to increased security measures after the Aldgate Attack almost a year earlier, discovered a plot by Al-Qaeda affiliates based in Saudi Arabia to hijack planes and fly them into the White House and other landmarks, including the Pentagon in Virginia and the World Trade Centre in New York. Immediately arrested were those known to be living in the United States, three men in Florida and one man in California. The DOJ shortly afterwards issued arrest warrants for 18 men around the world, facing life sentences if convicted. Saudi Arabia and Egypt, key US allies, managed to hunt down and extradite 10 of the men to American Federal Courts. However, eight men remained on the run, largely believed to be hiding in remote regions in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen. What would follow would be one of the largest international manhunts in history. Still, even by the end of the year 2000, only five more men would be extradited, three remaining on the run.
The manhunt coincided with two events related to terrorism that made the subject once again particularly topical. Firstly, it was the first anniversary of the Aldgate Attack, which lead to security measures taken in the US which allowed the attacks the terrorists planned to be prevented, and secondly, it coincided with the execution of Timothy McVeigh on July 2nd, the white supremacist who bombed Oklahoma City killing 168 people and who inspired the Aldgate terrorists, the first federal execution in the US since the 1960s. McVeigh had waived all his appeals, so the Democratic Attorney General, trying to fit in with the party's new but popular 'tough on crime' mantra, allowed it to go ahead despite the staunch opposition of his party to the death penalty that was present as recently as the 1988 election.
President Clinton's Attorney General had the McVeigh execution take place at the same time as the manhunt was in its depth. In an address dated July 2nd, Clinton stated that "the execution of McVeigh shows that the United States is prepared to deal out the harshest but fairest justice to the worst terrorists - and the vile extremists that plotted to take American lives in the thousands that we have captured or are currently endeavouring to capture should remember that."
Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom, a different battle was taking shape. As planned, on July 22nd, 2000, due to poor polling numbers, Shadow Home Secretary Theresa May resigned from her post, allowing the starting gun for a slew of resignations targeted at Tory leader William Hague. May stated in her resignation statement to Parliament that Hague had "ran the party with utter incompetence and weakness in will, refusing to take the most basic and necessary steps and fulfil his most fundamental duties as leader." This was the starting gun to a vote of no-confidence, which was initiated by May and various other Tory MPs and party officials, which was scheduled to take place against Hague in September after the Parliamentary recess, as Michael Heseltine officially began to challenge him for the leadership.
However, despite massive press speculation, the vote of no-confidence came up short, with Hague on September 18th being retained by a majority of the Parliamentary party, the necessary quota for a vote of no confidence not being reached. The saga not only embarrassed May and Heseltine, but the party as a whole, who through the debacle had managed to reduce the party's polling numbers to that of the 1997 election, after a brief 'summer spike' that had seen them only three or four points behind Labour. Michael Portillo was brought back into the Shadow Cabinet, replacing May as shadow home secretary. Labour made sure to take advantage of the debacle, with Gordon Brown joking at PMQs that "the next person to become Tory leader will be the first who can wake up the earliest to get to that dispatch box and tell the rest of the party they're in charge."
Heseltine and May's leadership challenge failed, embarrassing them in front of the entire country.
Osama Bin Laden, wanted in the US, remained on the run in Pakistan.
On the 16th June, 2000, the CIA announced they had, due to increased security measures after the Aldgate Attack almost a year earlier, discovered a plot by Al-Qaeda affiliates based in Saudi Arabia to hijack planes and fly them into the White House and other landmarks, including the Pentagon in Virginia and the World Trade Centre in New York. Immediately arrested were those known to be living in the United States, three men in Florida and one man in California. The DOJ shortly afterwards issued arrest warrants for 18 men around the world, facing life sentences if convicted. Saudi Arabia and Egypt, key US allies, managed to hunt down and extradite 10 of the men to American Federal Courts. However, eight men remained on the run, largely believed to be hiding in remote regions in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen. What would follow would be one of the largest international manhunts in history. Still, even by the end of the year 2000, only five more men would be extradited, three remaining on the run.
The manhunt coincided with two events related to terrorism that made the subject once again particularly topical. Firstly, it was the first anniversary of the Aldgate Attack, which lead to security measures taken in the US which allowed the attacks the terrorists planned to be prevented, and secondly, it coincided with the execution of Timothy McVeigh on July 2nd, the white supremacist who bombed Oklahoma City killing 168 people and who inspired the Aldgate terrorists, the first federal execution in the US since the 1960s. McVeigh had waived all his appeals, so the Democratic Attorney General, trying to fit in with the party's new but popular 'tough on crime' mantra, allowed it to go ahead despite the staunch opposition of his party to the death penalty that was present as recently as the 1988 election.
President Clinton's Attorney General had the McVeigh execution take place at the same time as the manhunt was in its depth. In an address dated July 2nd, Clinton stated that "the execution of McVeigh shows that the United States is prepared to deal out the harshest but fairest justice to the worst terrorists - and the vile extremists that plotted to take American lives in the thousands that we have captured or are currently endeavouring to capture should remember that."
Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom, a different battle was taking shape. As planned, on July 22nd, 2000, due to poor polling numbers, Shadow Home Secretary Theresa May resigned from her post, allowing the starting gun for a slew of resignations targeted at Tory leader William Hague. May stated in her resignation statement to Parliament that Hague had "ran the party with utter incompetence and weakness in will, refusing to take the most basic and necessary steps and fulfil his most fundamental duties as leader." This was the starting gun to a vote of no-confidence, which was initiated by May and various other Tory MPs and party officials, which was scheduled to take place against Hague in September after the Parliamentary recess, as Michael Heseltine officially began to challenge him for the leadership.
However, despite massive press speculation, the vote of no-confidence came up short, with Hague on September 18th being retained by a majority of the Parliamentary party, the necessary quota for a vote of no confidence not being reached. The saga not only embarrassed May and Heseltine, but the party as a whole, who through the debacle had managed to reduce the party's polling numbers to that of the 1997 election, after a brief 'summer spike' that had seen them only three or four points behind Labour. Michael Portillo was brought back into the Shadow Cabinet, replacing May as shadow home secretary. Labour made sure to take advantage of the debacle, with Gordon Brown joking at PMQs that "the next person to become Tory leader will be the first who can wake up the earliest to get to that dispatch box and tell the rest of the party they're in charge."
Heseltine and May's leadership challenge failed, embarrassing them in front of the entire country.
2000 Local Elections Wikipedia Article
Local elections took place in some parts of England on 4th May, 2000.
A third of the seats on each of the Metropolitan Boroughs along with elections in many of the unitary authorities and district councils.
There were no elections in Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland.
2000 London Mayor Election Wiki
The 2000 London mayoral election was held on 4 May 2000 to elect the Mayor of London.
It was the first election to the office established that year, after a referendum in London.
Autumn 2000
September to December 2000
Al Gore's campaign had successfully capitalised on the capture of the terrorist plotters by the Clinton Administration.
On November 8, 2000, the world woke up to the first time a Democrat had been elected President after another Democrat (without the previous dying in office) since Martin Van Buren was elected in 1836. However, it was not to say that this victory was anywhere as near overwhelming as Gore's predecessor's election and re-election, as Gore won with just 286 electoral votes compared to Bush's 251 (there was one faithless elector). It was also the closest election result since 1916, when Woodrow Wilson beat Charles Hughes. Gore eked out a victory with just a 0.3% lead over Bush in Florida, a state with the deciding electoral votes. Had Gore lost Florida, Bush would have won with 276 electoral votes.
Gore thanked Americans for "putting their trust in him" at his victory speech, and promised to continue to "crack down on terrorism and crime, but also the causes of terrorism and crime, with a renewed focus on prevention both domestically through better education funding, but also internationally through aiding and so deradicalizing those less fortunate than us." Gore also mentioned a "renewed focus on a partnership with our allies", which was seen by many as a nod to Gordon Brown. George W Bush in his concession said "I hope the best for Al Gore, so that he makes the best choices for this great country of ours," which was greeted by the boos of his crowd, notably more partisan and aggressively right-wing than Bush the "compassionate conservative". Clinton was naturally overjoyed at the result, as his Vice President prepared to take up his mantle. Brown congratulated Gore on his victory and flew to Washington, D.C. himself on November 24th to conduct a private meeting with Gore on the joint goals of the upcoming Administration.
The full results of the 2000 Presidential election.
Meanwhile, in the UK, internal turmoil between conservative party members increased, however Labour at this point was not doing so well either. The Hague saga continued, with the Conservative Party tearing itself apart over a leadership that was clearly a liability, but refused to go. There was now not another opportunity for a no-confidence vote for another year, after May and Heseltine had completely scuppered their attempt in Summer. So Hague clung on, marching the party towards electoral oblivion.
However, for Labour, a certain saga started developing too. Labour had been slowly but surely increasing fuel taxes during its time in office, and certain affected groups like farmers and lorry drivers were starting to notice. Under both the Blair/Brown and Brown/Darling Governments, fuel prices had gone from some of the least in Europe to some of the most expensive. This sparked a huge tide of protests during Autumn, which soon led to blockades of petrol stations. This, in turn, caused extreme fuel shortages, which had put the country in a standstill and cost several hundred million pounds by October. However, Brown refused to change the fuel tax, which resulted in a several week long shortage. It was only when members of his Cabinet started to threaten resignation and the country entered Winter that he did budge and decrease fuel taxes to the level protestors demanded, as several reports were published in tabloids that tenuously linked the fuel shortages to the death of several individuals from immobilised ambulances. The whole debacle embarrassed Brown and the Labour Party greatly.
A protestor blocks goods traffic into a petrol station as part of the fuel protests.
With both the Conservatives and Labour embarrassed by these debacles, ample space was provided for the rising in popularity Liberal Democrats lead by Charles Kennedy. Kennedy was given a national platform to criticise both Labour's policy on fuel and the Conservatives' backstabbing and internal turmoil. This caused the Lib Dems to receive a huge boost in polling numbers, with one or two polls even listing them as the largest party. However, as the fuel crisis waned in December, this was once again reduced to a more familiar level, although still impressive. By Christmas 2000, most polls estimated Labour on around 370 seats, the Tories on 190, and the Lib Dems on around 70. This was still impressive, but not to the extent that Kennedy had hoped.
Polls were becoming of increasing relevance as Brown was under increasing pressure to hold a general election to give his Government some legitimacy. As the Blair assassination was now definitively a thing of the past, that was no longer an excuse. The fuel crisis was over, and polls were still favourable enough to Labour. The pressure now mounted on Brown: would he almost certainly sacrifice a couple dozen of his MPs, and risk the possibility of losing his majority altogether, or keep his landslide majority for another year, and risk a much harsher punishment for his cowardice in 2002, when he couldn't delay the election any longer?
Pressure mounted on Gordon Brown to call an election.
Al Gore's campaign had successfully capitalised on the capture of the terrorist plotters by the Clinton Administration.
On November 8, 2000, the world woke up to the first time a Democrat had been elected President after another Democrat (without the previous dying in office) since Martin Van Buren was elected in 1836. However, it was not to say that this victory was anywhere as near overwhelming as Gore's predecessor's election and re-election, as Gore won with just 286 electoral votes compared to Bush's 251 (there was one faithless elector). It was also the closest election result since 1916, when Woodrow Wilson beat Charles Hughes. Gore eked out a victory with just a 0.3% lead over Bush in Florida, a state with the deciding electoral votes. Had Gore lost Florida, Bush would have won with 276 electoral votes.
Gore thanked Americans for "putting their trust in him" at his victory speech, and promised to continue to "crack down on terrorism and crime, but also the causes of terrorism and crime, with a renewed focus on prevention both domestically through better education funding, but also internationally through aiding and so deradicalizing those less fortunate than us." Gore also mentioned a "renewed focus on a partnership with our allies", which was seen by many as a nod to Gordon Brown. George W Bush in his concession said "I hope the best for Al Gore, so that he makes the best choices for this great country of ours," which was greeted by the boos of his crowd, notably more partisan and aggressively right-wing than Bush the "compassionate conservative". Clinton was naturally overjoyed at the result, as his Vice President prepared to take up his mantle. Brown congratulated Gore on his victory and flew to Washington, D.C. himself on November 24th to conduct a private meeting with Gore on the joint goals of the upcoming Administration.
The full results of the 2000 Presidential election.
Meanwhile, in the UK, internal turmoil between conservative party members increased, however Labour at this point was not doing so well either. The Hague saga continued, with the Conservative Party tearing itself apart over a leadership that was clearly a liability, but refused to go. There was now not another opportunity for a no-confidence vote for another year, after May and Heseltine had completely scuppered their attempt in Summer. So Hague clung on, marching the party towards electoral oblivion.
However, for Labour, a certain saga started developing too. Labour had been slowly but surely increasing fuel taxes during its time in office, and certain affected groups like farmers and lorry drivers were starting to notice. Under both the Blair/Brown and Brown/Darling Governments, fuel prices had gone from some of the least in Europe to some of the most expensive. This sparked a huge tide of protests during Autumn, which soon led to blockades of petrol stations. This, in turn, caused extreme fuel shortages, which had put the country in a standstill and cost several hundred million pounds by October. However, Brown refused to change the fuel tax, which resulted in a several week long shortage. It was only when members of his Cabinet started to threaten resignation and the country entered Winter that he did budge and decrease fuel taxes to the level protestors demanded, as several reports were published in tabloids that tenuously linked the fuel shortages to the death of several individuals from immobilised ambulances. The whole debacle embarrassed Brown and the Labour Party greatly.
A protestor blocks goods traffic into a petrol station as part of the fuel protests.
With both the Conservatives and Labour embarrassed by these debacles, ample space was provided for the rising in popularity Liberal Democrats lead by Charles Kennedy. Kennedy was given a national platform to criticise both Labour's policy on fuel and the Conservatives' backstabbing and internal turmoil. This caused the Lib Dems to receive a huge boost in polling numbers, with one or two polls even listing them as the largest party. However, as the fuel crisis waned in December, this was once again reduced to a more familiar level, although still impressive. By Christmas 2000, most polls estimated Labour on around 370 seats, the Tories on 190, and the Lib Dems on around 70. This was still impressive, but not to the extent that Kennedy had hoped.
Polls were becoming of increasing relevance as Brown was under increasing pressure to hold a general election to give his Government some legitimacy. As the Blair assassination was now definitively a thing of the past, that was no longer an excuse. The fuel crisis was over, and polls were still favourable enough to Labour. The pressure now mounted on Brown: would he almost certainly sacrifice a couple dozen of his MPs, and risk the possibility of losing his majority altogether, or keep his landslide majority for another year, and risk a much harsher punishment for his cowardice in 2002, when he couldn't delay the election any longer?
Pressure mounted on Gordon Brown to call an election.
2000 United States Presidential Election Wiki
The 2000 United States presidential election was the 54th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 7, 2000.
Democratic candidate Al Gore, the incumbent Vice President won the election, defeating Texas Governor and eldest son of the 41st president, George H. W. Bush, George W Bush.
It was the first Presidential election since 1836 where a Democrat had succeeded another Democrat without the previous dying in office. It was also the closest Presidential election since 1916.
If any of you are wondering - Congressional elections go the same as IRL unless otherwise specified. Obviously, now we have a different President, the 2002 midterms will have significant divergences that I'll mention when we get to that point.
I can see Brown winning the election as long as he does not try stunts like rapping, or smiling too much. He needs to be on the stump where his natural warmth and chars is a can be felt by a crowd, to me he is a politician best heard in person than on TV where he often comes over as dour and soulless.
Rail nationalisation would be a de ent thing to put in the manifesto- Railtrack+franchies has never worked well and cost a ton of cash. Perhaps not a full return to BR but something else. Legislation of cannabis for medical reasons might win some votes. Brown might try reviving English regional government again, but he needs to have less division, make it more general, say 6 big regions- but put it as a Royal Commission in the manifesto to ‘investigate it’ rather than promise it. Fuel and beer duty need to be frozen for a while. Something on privacy and increased copper recruitment. Lots on ‘green energy’ investment. Promise lots and lots of cash for n. England and NI.
interesting timeline.
Rail nationalisation would be a de ent thing to put in the manifesto- Railtrack+franchies has never worked well and cost a ton of cash. Perhaps not a full return to BR but something else. Legislation of cannabis for medical reasons might win some votes. Brown might try reviving English regional government again, but he needs to have less division, make it more general, say 6 big regions- but put it as a Royal Commission in the manifesto to ‘investigate it’ rather than promise it. Fuel and beer duty need to be frozen for a while. Something on privacy and increased copper recruitment. Lots on ‘green energy’ investment. Promise lots and lots of cash for n. England and NI.
interesting timeline.
I think medicinal marijuana is awfully progressive for 2001. But otherwise you have some interesting ideas.
Winter 2001
January to March 2001
Al Gore's inauguration on January 20, 2001.
Vice-President Albert Arnold Gore Jr., aged 52, was formally inaugurated as 43rd President of the United States on January 20th. The outgoing President Bill Clinton warmly watched the inauguration, taking glee in his successor's election. George W Bush was naturally a little more stoic, but still attended and congratulated Gore on his victory. However, with Congress still completely controlled by Republicans, Gore's agenda was going to be a little stifled, and he would have to achieve anything through bipartisanship, which was becoming a little more difficult as America had become notably more polarised since the likes of Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh had made right-wing, uncompromising populism a cornerstone of the Republican Party in the 1990s.
At his inauguration speech, Gore renewed his focus on tackling gun violence, terrorism and crime, however there were other sections which were of note. Firstly, Gore took on a notably hawkish stance towards Iraq in his inauguration, being one of the few democrats to support the First Gulf War, stating 'If Saddam Hussein continues to block access to weapons' inspectors, commit internal atrocities, and threaten his neighbours, then all options are available. And when I say all options - I mean all options.' Secondly, Gore gave particular attention in his speech to an issue he had talked about more so than any previous Presidential Candidate - global warming. Gore said 'If the human race continues our current course of carelessly emitting poisonous fumes into the air and warming the planet - if we do not adapt and convert to more renewable and clean forms of energy and transport - many of our great cities will be underwater in our grandchildren's time.' Gore was praised for his focus by climate activists, but was criticised for not holding himself to account by setting specific global warming-related targets during his Presidency.
And as it turned out - Gore's rhetoric over Iraq was not an empty promise. On January 22, 2001, a series of mass shootings and suicide bombings occurred in and around the American embassy in Kuwait City. A total of 153 people were killed, and over a thousand injured. 16 of the killed were Americans, eight of which were servicemen. America was thrown into a media frenzy. Al Gore was only three days into his Presidency, and already a major crisis had occurred. Nearly everyone in America was furious with whoever had done this - from Republicans to Democrats to unaffiliated people who were not even usually concerned with politics. The 16 Americans killed were given a hero's funeral, with some of their funerals being broadcast on live TV to viewing audiences, a measure that had only occurred before in very few cases, like Princess Diana in 1997, or Columbine victim Rachel Scott in 1999.
The Americans killed were treated as heroes by the American people and mourned on a scale rarely seen before.
Al Gore and Congress investigated the attack, and concluded in February, that the Iraqi Government was directly responsible for it. Kuwait made the same conclusion, as did most other Governments (even countries hostile to the US like Syria, Iran, and China blamed Iraq for the attacks as they were no fans of Saddam Hussein themselves). To the vast majority of the world, Iraq was seen as clearly responsible for the attack, and the attackers were seen as Iraqi-armed militants. Gore was prepared for war. He ruled out an invasion or land campaign against Iraq, as that would require Congressional approval and likely cause significant disapproval of European allies, however said that a 'prolonged and persistent bombing campaign against the Iraqi military and its resources' was likely until Saddam Hussein stood down. That March of 2001, the Americans proposed a resolution to the UNSC authorising military action against Iraq, however it was vetoed by Russia, with China abstaining. However, two years before, NATO had bombed Yugoslavia without UN approval. The question was if America was prepared to do the same again.
Meanwhile in the UK, Gordon Brown backed the American position, seeing a war supported by the tabloids a good way to increase jingoism before an election, which he was preparing to call as his poll numbers were looking very favourable. It would also distract from the recent rail crash caused by poor signalling near York, in which over ten people had died, and led to allegations that the Labour Government had underfunded transport leading to the poor signalling causing the crash. Labour renationalised Network Rail following the crash, however did not bring the actual train companies back into public ownership. Meanwhile, the French Government tentatively backed the American position, as did Germany and most other NATO States, as Al Gore had ruled out a land invasion. However, unlike Brown, Chiraq and Schroder ruled out involvement of the French and German militaries in the attacks, despite the fact they had took part in the NATO bombing of Serbia.
Al Gore set a deadline for the Iraqis. On March 27th 2001, just days after the UN resolution had failed, Gore warned Saddam Hussein to resign from power, and re-allow access to UN weapons inspectors, as well as hand in a list of men America had accused of involvement in the Kuwait bombings, by April 5th, or face attack from American and coalition (British, Spanish, Australian, and Dutch) aircraft.
America prepared to bomb Iraq like never before, as American ships were positioned in the Gulf.
In the UK, on February 22, Gordon Brown formally set the date for the long expected snap election: Thursday April 12 2001. Coinciding with when America and Britain would be in the earlier stages of the bombing of Iraq, so Labour could capitalise on a national jingoism. Gordon Brown remained backed by the key tabloids, and continued to promote his economic agenda of social democracy in addition to the war, so that Labour would not lose left-wing and young voters, who were notably sceptical of the war. For example, on March 17th, as many as fifty thousand left-wing and environmentalist protestors turned out in London to oppose the war. However, as Brown's strategist Peter Mandelson said, 'Even the Lib Dems support the war - they have nowhere else to go.' This meant that Labour did not lose significant amounts of support on the left and most polls still gave Labour a landslide amount of seats between 370 and 390.
The Tories, still under Hague's ineffectual leadership, promoted a disunited and confused opposition. They did not oppose the war, but did attack Labour's record on rail safety (accusing Labour of sweeping the recent crash under the rug) and Labour's economic policies - such as the fuel tax. The Tories gained support in rural communities, but considering that the UK was a majority-urban country and they had always had much of this rural support anyway, that was not really relevant or helpful. Most polls still only put the Tories at about 190 to 230 seats, a still disastrously bad result. Many Tories were already preparing to lose, and Theresa May and Michael Portillo were allegedly preparing to run for leader following Hague's resignation after the Conservative Party's predicted loss. This led to additional unhelpful drama about Theresa May 'betraying' Michael Heseltine.
The Lib Dems, also supporting the war, after the fuel protest debacle was over, found themselves in less relevance. Most polls placed them between thirty and forty seats, a disappointing reduction on their 1997 result and recent promising local election and by-election victories. Still, Charles Kennedy was confident he could win a gain of seats and turn this around with some good campaigning on niche issues where the Lib Dems had unique policies, such as their specific focus on the global warming issue, attempting to mirror Al Gore's 2000 election campaign.
As of March 30th, 2001, the polling averages were 40% for Labour, 35% for the Tories, and 18% for the Lib Dems. Despite a small-looking 5-point lead, such a result would actually give Labour a majority of over 130.
Britain was to hold an election at the same point the bombing of Iraq was expected to begin.
Al Gore's inauguration on January 20, 2001.
Vice-President Albert Arnold Gore Jr., aged 52, was formally inaugurated as 43rd President of the United States on January 20th. The outgoing President Bill Clinton warmly watched the inauguration, taking glee in his successor's election. George W Bush was naturally a little more stoic, but still attended and congratulated Gore on his victory. However, with Congress still completely controlled by Republicans, Gore's agenda was going to be a little stifled, and he would have to achieve anything through bipartisanship, which was becoming a little more difficult as America had become notably more polarised since the likes of Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh had made right-wing, uncompromising populism a cornerstone of the Republican Party in the 1990s.
At his inauguration speech, Gore renewed his focus on tackling gun violence, terrorism and crime, however there were other sections which were of note. Firstly, Gore took on a notably hawkish stance towards Iraq in his inauguration, being one of the few democrats to support the First Gulf War, stating 'If Saddam Hussein continues to block access to weapons' inspectors, commit internal atrocities, and threaten his neighbours, then all options are available. And when I say all options - I mean all options.' Secondly, Gore gave particular attention in his speech to an issue he had talked about more so than any previous Presidential Candidate - global warming. Gore said 'If the human race continues our current course of carelessly emitting poisonous fumes into the air and warming the planet - if we do not adapt and convert to more renewable and clean forms of energy and transport - many of our great cities will be underwater in our grandchildren's time.' Gore was praised for his focus by climate activists, but was criticised for not holding himself to account by setting specific global warming-related targets during his Presidency.
And as it turned out - Gore's rhetoric over Iraq was not an empty promise. On January 22, 2001, a series of mass shootings and suicide bombings occurred in and around the American embassy in Kuwait City. A total of 153 people were killed, and over a thousand injured. 16 of the killed were Americans, eight of which were servicemen. America was thrown into a media frenzy. Al Gore was only three days into his Presidency, and already a major crisis had occurred. Nearly everyone in America was furious with whoever had done this - from Republicans to Democrats to unaffiliated people who were not even usually concerned with politics. The 16 Americans killed were given a hero's funeral, with some of their funerals being broadcast on live TV to viewing audiences, a measure that had only occurred before in very few cases, like Princess Diana in 1997, or Columbine victim Rachel Scott in 1999.
The Americans killed were treated as heroes by the American people and mourned on a scale rarely seen before.
Al Gore and Congress investigated the attack, and concluded in February, that the Iraqi Government was directly responsible for it. Kuwait made the same conclusion, as did most other Governments (even countries hostile to the US like Syria, Iran, and China blamed Iraq for the attacks as they were no fans of Saddam Hussein themselves). To the vast majority of the world, Iraq was seen as clearly responsible for the attack, and the attackers were seen as Iraqi-armed militants. Gore was prepared for war. He ruled out an invasion or land campaign against Iraq, as that would require Congressional approval and likely cause significant disapproval of European allies, however said that a 'prolonged and persistent bombing campaign against the Iraqi military and its resources' was likely until Saddam Hussein stood down. That March of 2001, the Americans proposed a resolution to the UNSC authorising military action against Iraq, however it was vetoed by Russia, with China abstaining. However, two years before, NATO had bombed Yugoslavia without UN approval. The question was if America was prepared to do the same again.
Meanwhile in the UK, Gordon Brown backed the American position, seeing a war supported by the tabloids a good way to increase jingoism before an election, which he was preparing to call as his poll numbers were looking very favourable. It would also distract from the recent rail crash caused by poor signalling near York, in which over ten people had died, and led to allegations that the Labour Government had underfunded transport leading to the poor signalling causing the crash. Labour renationalised Network Rail following the crash, however did not bring the actual train companies back into public ownership. Meanwhile, the French Government tentatively backed the American position, as did Germany and most other NATO States, as Al Gore had ruled out a land invasion. However, unlike Brown, Chiraq and Schroder ruled out involvement of the French and German militaries in the attacks, despite the fact they had took part in the NATO bombing of Serbia.
Al Gore set a deadline for the Iraqis. On March 27th 2001, just days after the UN resolution had failed, Gore warned Saddam Hussein to resign from power, and re-allow access to UN weapons inspectors, as well as hand in a list of men America had accused of involvement in the Kuwait bombings, by April 5th, or face attack from American and coalition (British, Spanish, Australian, and Dutch) aircraft.
America prepared to bomb Iraq like never before, as American ships were positioned in the Gulf.
In the UK, on February 22, Gordon Brown formally set the date for the long expected snap election: Thursday April 12 2001. Coinciding with when America and Britain would be in the earlier stages of the bombing of Iraq, so Labour could capitalise on a national jingoism. Gordon Brown remained backed by the key tabloids, and continued to promote his economic agenda of social democracy in addition to the war, so that Labour would not lose left-wing and young voters, who were notably sceptical of the war. For example, on March 17th, as many as fifty thousand left-wing and environmentalist protestors turned out in London to oppose the war. However, as Brown's strategist Peter Mandelson said, 'Even the Lib Dems support the war - they have nowhere else to go.' This meant that Labour did not lose significant amounts of support on the left and most polls still gave Labour a landslide amount of seats between 370 and 390.
The Tories, still under Hague's ineffectual leadership, promoted a disunited and confused opposition. They did not oppose the war, but did attack Labour's record on rail safety (accusing Labour of sweeping the recent crash under the rug) and Labour's economic policies - such as the fuel tax. The Tories gained support in rural communities, but considering that the UK was a majority-urban country and they had always had much of this rural support anyway, that was not really relevant or helpful. Most polls still only put the Tories at about 190 to 230 seats, a still disastrously bad result. Many Tories were already preparing to lose, and Theresa May and Michael Portillo were allegedly preparing to run for leader following Hague's resignation after the Conservative Party's predicted loss. This led to additional unhelpful drama about Theresa May 'betraying' Michael Heseltine.
The Lib Dems, also supporting the war, after the fuel protest debacle was over, found themselves in less relevance. Most polls placed them between thirty and forty seats, a disappointing reduction on their 1997 result and recent promising local election and by-election victories. Still, Charles Kennedy was confident he could win a gain of seats and turn this around with some good campaigning on niche issues where the Lib Dems had unique policies, such as their specific focus on the global warming issue, attempting to mirror Al Gore's 2000 election campaign.
As of March 30th, 2001, the polling averages were 40% for Labour, 35% for the Tories, and 18% for the Lib Dems. Despite a small-looking 5-point lead, such a result would actually give Labour a majority of over 130.
Britain was to hold an election at the same point the bombing of Iraq was expected to begin.
Welcome back.
The only way to have a return to BR without a return to BR would be to do something similar to what the Tories are doing now in OTL. This would require Southall, Ladbrook Grove and Hatfield to all happen, as per OTL, with the POD being a decision being made to slowly return control of franchises back into government control upon their expiration, alongside the creation of Network Rail. The operations would then be contracted out to private companies. The problem then comes that Government would have to wait a while to get their trains back at knock-down prices.
Would this crash be Hatfield (the one where the rail shattered underneath the train) or Great Heck (the one where a moron fell asleep at the wheel of his Land Rover, drove off the M62, through a farmers field and onto the tracks, to be subsequently hit by the train from Newcastle to King's X (being propelled by the same locomotive as at Hatfield), which diverted said train into the path of a brand new Freightliner locomotive and its rake of wagons)?
It says near York, so Great Heck. Hatfield is in Hertfordshire.
It isn't exactly an early Iraq - there's no land invasion, so it enjoys more international and domestic support. It can be thought of as the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia copy-pasted onto Iraq.
Election 2001
BBC NEWS TELEVISION COVERAGE OF ELECTION NIGHT - 12TH APRIL 2001 - 09:59 PM
Presented by David Dimbleby.
David Dimbleby: So here we are, we are just seconds away from the results of the exit poll - our first prediction of the potential outcome of this election. More than 20,000 people were asked how they voted today, at a hundred and forty four polling stations right across the UK, on behalf of the BBC, ITN, and Sky. So, as Big Ben reaches ten o'clock, we are stranding by with our crucial exit poll figures: here they are.
(BONG!!!!!!)
Exit poll results flash up on electronic screen in BBC studio which Dimbleby is standing in front of:
Dimbleby: Our exit poll is suggesting, that for a second time there will be a Labour majority when all the votes are counted after this election of April 2001. Labour on 410 seats, and the Conservatives way down on 171. Now, on those figures, we are looking at a Labour majority of 158 if the votes actually tally up with this prediction. And, discounting last election which was Blair's 1997 landslide, would be the biggest Labour majority in British electoral history. Let's look at that Tory figure of 171 for William Hague: that would be the worst Tory result, again with the exception of last election - a low point for the Tories, since 1832. Let's look at the wider picture.
Dimbleby: And here we have the figures for all the parties. Labour we are suggesting on 410 that is a loss of only eight seats unbelievably in this election as suggested by the exit poll. The Tories on 171, gaining only six seats, that's the suggestion of the poll. And the Lib Dems on fifty, gaining only four seats, a rather underwhelming result for Charles Kennedy there. The SNP on six, gaining a seat. Plaid Cymru on three, losing one seat. And the others - most of them in Northern Ireland - on 19. It is an exit poll - we will see how accurate it is of course when the results start coming in. And we may even get some results within the next hour or so. But it is a dramatic poll - and it certainly suggests that Gordon Brown is on course for another massive majority of over 150 seats - possibly even more - and a full second term.
Presented by David Dimbleby.
David Dimbleby: So here we are, we are just seconds away from the results of the exit poll - our first prediction of the potential outcome of this election. More than 20,000 people were asked how they voted today, at a hundred and forty four polling stations right across the UK, on behalf of the BBC, ITN, and Sky. So, as Big Ben reaches ten o'clock, we are stranding by with our crucial exit poll figures: here they are.
(BONG!!!!!!)
Exit poll results flash up on electronic screen in BBC studio which Dimbleby is standing in front of:
LABOUR
MAJORITY
LAB
410
(-8)
CON
171
(+6)
330 to win.
MAJORITY
LAB
410
(-8)
CON
171
(+6)
330 to win.
Dimbleby: Our exit poll is suggesting, that for a second time there will be a Labour majority when all the votes are counted after this election of April 2001. Labour on 410 seats, and the Conservatives way down on 171. Now, on those figures, we are looking at a Labour majority of 158 if the votes actually tally up with this prediction. And, discounting last election which was Blair's 1997 landslide, would be the biggest Labour majority in British electoral history. Let's look at that Tory figure of 171 for William Hague: that would be the worst Tory result, again with the exception of last election - a low point for the Tories, since 1832. Let's look at the wider picture.
LABOUR
MAJORITY
LAB
410
(-8)
CON
171
(+6)
LD
50
(+4)
SNP
6
(+1)
Plaid Cymru
3
(-1)
OTH
19
330 to win.
MAJORITY
LAB
410
(-8)
CON
171
(+6)
LD
50
(+4)
SNP
6
(+1)
Plaid Cymru
3
(-1)
OTH
19
330 to win.
Dimbleby: And here we have the figures for all the parties. Labour we are suggesting on 410 that is a loss of only eight seats unbelievably in this election as suggested by the exit poll. The Tories on 171, gaining only six seats, that's the suggestion of the poll. And the Lib Dems on fifty, gaining only four seats, a rather underwhelming result for Charles Kennedy there. The SNP on six, gaining a seat. Plaid Cymru on three, losing one seat. And the others - most of them in Northern Ireland - on 19. It is an exit poll - we will see how accurate it is of course when the results start coming in. And we may even get some results within the next hour or so. But it is a dramatic poll - and it certainly suggests that Gordon Brown is on course for another massive majority of over 150 seats - possibly even more - and a full second term.
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