© 1997 j-dom Media. Contact us!Finally the British get the change of government they deserved. If the Conservatives had managed to hold on it would have seriously tested the British peoples' faith in their own democracy. And best of all the Liberal Democrats experienced a break through, doubling their seats to 46.
The Liberal Democrat ideology has the most in common with the ideals of the average netizen. They believe in freedom of speech, freedom of information, democracy and are very much pro-environment and pro-science & technology. This is all good news and I really hope they become a positive and effective influence on government.
But the real shocker of this election must be the way the red tide (or should I say purple?) swept across Britain. With the exception of Northern Ireland, almost every major conurbation turned red. The swing in some seats was a massive 19% and an overall 10.5%. Tony Blair's majority is unquestionable and while the good John Major honorably retired from leadership after acclaim from all his political peers, Tony Blair declared it was time to start work.
Now Blair's policies weren't that radical or exciting as a whole. Which is why the typically guarded British felt safe in pledging their full support for the New (restrained) Labour platform. But one more daring policy which got little, if any, coverage was Blair's commitment to wire every school in Britain.
The details were, if not nonexistent, then sketchy. But one prominent pledge was a deal Blair had agreed with BT. He had promised BT the golden fleece they'd always wanted - the ability to transmit entertainment to houses via their network. If BT wired schools and libraries then Blair assured the giant's executives that BT would be entitled to fill the country with the world's finest optical fiber network. Then they'd start pumping pay-per-view TV and other potential cash cows such as interactive TV, high-speed Net access and more. A little footnote was that the cable operators would be entitled to take part as well.
But it seemed like a weak consolation to the cable guys who wouldn't be getting a happy ending like Jim Carrey, they've been struggling to get enough cable down and take up has been sluggish. Sky's sattelite service is killing them before they've arrived in many areas. Now they'll have to compete with BT as well?
Until we can get really fair competition in the UK telecoms and broadcasting industries is it fair to unleash a giant like BT into both? It wouldn't matter if BT were like IBM, once good but now hopeless. But it isn't, its like Microsoft, acquiring and growing at an enormous rate. BT is a well run company and it doesn't take no for an answer. If they do fiber up Britain it will be good in the long term, but in the short term if prices are anything like ISDN then don't expect any fast connections for the home user soon. Which is why competition will be needed, but before the fiber goes down. Who will compete if BT already has its fiber down? They wouldn't stand a chance. Blair might have to reconsider his pledge.
Labour also haven't committed themselves to increasing Britain's paltry 2.2% GDP spent on research and development every year, one of the lowest among developed countries. They have felt assessing quality will be more important than increasing funding as quality doesn't go with quantity. But more funding doesn't necessarily mean more researchers. It means updating facilities, improving equipment and providing job security for current researchers. One can only hope that their reviews will show them that more money also means more quality.
Labour were always obviously less wired than they would have had us believe but they did take some steps in the right direction with their BT agreements. Things always get harder in government than in opposition and nobody expects miracles. But if they think through the consequences carefully of every action and keep wired Britain in mind when they play with BT's licensing then we might all be better off.
But remember, Blair was voted in by middle class England not the digerati on the edge of any class, and when it comes down to it, they'll come first if he wants another term. The digerati probably prefer it that way, if it was too easy there wouldn't be any fun in it, would there?
by Jeep - what do you think about Blair? Is he the next Bill Clinton?
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