Talk:Tony Blair/Archive 2

message: The article mentions twice that Blair is Britain's longest-serving labour PM.  Once it says that he broke the record in 2005, once the date is given as 2003.  What is right?--Doric Loon 18:20, 17 Feb 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Harold Wilson had two spells in office, so Blair first surpassed Wilson's longest continuous period in office, then surpassed his total length of service. If you read it again you will see that it makes this distinction. --rbrwr± 19:44, 17 Feb 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Aha!  Thanks.  --Doric Loon 10:02, 18 Feb 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: longest serving?

message: Much amused to see BDD changing British spelling to American.  I always assumed we accept a colo(u)rful mix.  --Doric Loon 18:47, 3 Mar 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Spelling

message: Sorry, but it's POV to include an anti-Blair joke (which is not notable nor has it become 'an important sociological part of the effects of the political system on popular culture'). Hence revert of 20:50, March 5, 2005. David 21:54, 5 Mar 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Joke

message: Blair is an adopted child so that his family tree is not publically known.
:Erm, not even correct if you are talking about Leo Blair (born 1923), the father of Tony. He was adopted by the Blair family; he was the son of Charles Parsons (professional name Jimmy Lynton), and Celia Ridgeway. David 20:33, 19 Mar 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Blair News

message: When is Blair going to come up for reelection?
: See UK general election, 2005/6. Pcb21| Pete 16:13, 19 Mar 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: He's just called an election for May 5 2005. ugen64 02:39, 6 Apr 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Question 

message: Is it a conscious decision to keep with an 11 year old picture of Our Glorious Leader </sarcasm>, or should we be using something more up to date? Proto 15:23, 1 Jun 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: It's been changed a few times and reverted. The problem is that it's an appropriate pose (head on) whereas all the others are not, and also it's got suitable copyright permission. If anyone can find an up to date photo which is high definition and GFDL-licensable then please replace it. David | Talk 15:31, 1 Jun 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Picture 

message: <S>User:Dbiv just removed this line ... which peaked when Blair was taken ill during an award ceremony on the village green at Linton, West Yorkshire. Nonetheless ... from the second paragraph of health problems.  That sentence was initially added by an IP user, but it looked right to me.  Dbiv, is there a reason you removed this? Proto 15:51, 6 Jun 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Out of curiosity 

message: The disputed passge is: "He led the Labour Party towards the ____ of British politics," where ____ is replaced by either centre or centre right. This discussion is about which it should be. I suggest a moritarium on editting this for a few days until we get consensus. Please sign below, and add comments if you want.
:A general comment: Brian Walden has something to say on the subject here. David | Talk 10:51, 13 Jun 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Right, time to stop the edit wars. CONSENSUS on centre or centre-right 

message: Would it be more accurate to call him a Scotsman or an Englishman? Youngamerican 16:42, 13 Jun 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: No. Blair is English in origin, but because he was born in Scotland, some people call him Scottish. It's best to regard him as being simply British (to coin a phrase). David | Talk 16:46, 13 Jun 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Scots or English?

message: I suggest switching the current image (:Image:BlairL.jpg, uploaded by  User:Cmc0 and claimed as "British Crown copyright") to this public domain image.
As Wikipedia:Fair use states: "Always use a more free alternative if one is available. Such images can often be used more readily outside the U.S. If you see a fair use image and know of an alternative more free equivalent, please replace it, so the Wikipedia can become as free as possible. Eventually we may have a way to identify images as more restricted than GFDL on the article pages, to make the desire for a more free image more obvious."
/Jebur 2 July 2005 14:20 (UTC)
**Current image is definitely the best so far.  --81.79.241.4 9 July 2005 18:10 (UTC)
:::I agree. The public domain image is hideous. FearÉIREANN SOLIDARITY WITH THE PEOPLE OF LONDON\(caint) 9 July 2005 18:43 (UTC)
Try this image then ...   --81.76.4.8 19:45, 9 July 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Top image

message: If Blair was born in Scotland, why does he not have an accent?
:He does, it's just not Scottish ... --81.79.12.15 13:18, 14 July 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: "Being born in a stable does not make one a horse", 1st Duke of Wellington.  He's not Scottish, he was just born there...  Morwen - Talk 13:29, 14 July 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Scottish 

message: A lot of the article seems to have been replaced with the words 'owned 2005', but I don't know how to revert =( could some kind person please take this task --Skuld‡ insult 19:35, 22 July 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Vandalism 

message: Am I the only one who is seeing the page as one continous text with the headings merged into the text?
:Not sure what you mean, but I have just moved the TOC back to float on the left.  This makes the article much more readable and instantly accessible, particularly for those users with low screen resolutions (the TOC may not initially display without them having to scroll down).  --Cactus.man 15:47, 30 July 2005 (UTC)
replies: text:  The 09:29 BST version this morning was broken but I think my revert of 09:45 BST fixed it. --Cavrdg 16:08, 30 July 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Now I see what you mean ... what a mess, how did that happen.  Your revert obviously fixed it.  --Cactus.man 16:30, 30 July 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Layout 

message: I think a reference to this document should be in the Blair article.  Although Blair was not personally involved in the compilation of the briefing paper, it was issued in support of UK government policy on the confrontation with Iraq. (See Dodgy Dossier).  It also difficult to imagine that Blair would not have been aware of the preparation, or detailed contents, of such a document in support of such a politically high risk policy.
The inclusion of a refernce to the Dodgy Dossier will also clarify for editors the distinction between the September and Dodgy Dossiers, and avoid numerous erroneous edits referring to the September Dossier as the Dodgy Dossier. --Cactus.man 08:36, 7 August 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Dodgy Dossier

message: The text currently states that "several anti-war pressure groups want to try Blair for war crimes in Iraq at the International Criminal Court". This is not how the ICC works - the principle of "complementarity" means that the ICC only has jurisdiction where a country is unwilling or unable to properly investigate or prosecute alleged war crimes itself. It follows that, as no private prosecution of Blair has been attempted in the UK, the ICC cannot prosecute. I am not sure whether this should be added to the main text, or if the original paragraph should simply be deleted. Ramon123 12:22, 31 August 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Surely it should just be rewritten as "several anti-war pressure groups want Blair tried for war crimes in Iraq at the International Criminal Court."? It makes it clear that, while they themselves wouldn't be the prosecution, they want him into the court and tried for the crimes etc.... Tyrhinis 19:30, 2 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: International Criminal Court

message: Cites for "Eton of Scotland" phrase:
"Scotland's Eton":
* BBC news
* Socialist Worker
* Angela Browning (MP for Tiverton and Honiton) in  Hansard
"Eton of Scotland":
* Andrew Rawnsley in The Guardian
* The Daily Telegraph
* New Statesman
* The Daily Mirror
-- Finlay McWalter |  Talk 22:16, 7 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Eton of Scotland

message: Should this info be moved to its own article? Most folks who view this page aren't too interested in the Blair family ancestors. Bastie 18:24, 9 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Leo Blair Sr.