One last spin to stay in power for Blair?

In the movie Syriana, there is this wonderful line between two characters about corruption in the government. It goes like this:

“Corruption charges…corruption? Corruption is government intrusion into market efficiencies in the form of regulation. That’s Milton Friedman. He got a goddamn Nobel Prize. We have laws against it precisely so we can get away with it. Corruption is our protection. Corruption keeps us safe and warm. Corruption is why you and I are prancing around here instead of fighting over scraps of meat out in the street. Corruption…is why we win.”

Perhaps this was why the Labour government felt safe even after a litany of sleaze and misadministration which made regular headlines. Political pundits and media commentators speculated that Labour will pay for its lackadaisical attitude towards its incompetence and scandals.

The Labour government became too complacent, saying that headlines were not reflective of the larger picture. How wrong were they for the voters all across England yesterday gave Labour a bloodied nose in the local elections.

The party lost more than 250 seats, making it one of its worst defeats in local elections since coming to power in 1997. The biggest gainers were the Tories.

Now to pacify the enraged public, and to safe his own leadership, Tony Blair has acted swiftly in reshuffling his cabinet. Out goes the ministers who made the wrong headlines in the recent past – Charles Clark (pix), Jack Straw and even John Prescott who loses his local government ministry.

But the question remains as to how long Blair can remain in power even as it looks increasingly like he has lost the moral authority to lead.

Another question that arise is, why the reshuffle only after the horrendous show at the local polls and not when the scandals first broke? Is this just another spin from the government to fool the public?