Charging Ahead With A Vengeance

British prime minister Tony Blair always promised that he would hit the road running. Now, some people are worried that he forgot to check the brakes before starting out.

That may sound like harsh criticism on a government that is only 25 days old. But Labour's new ministers have moved through Whitehall like whirlwinds. In three action-packed weeks, they've shaken the Bank of England to its foundations. And they've blown the whistle on tobacco advertising on the sportsfield. Says one commentator facetiously: People usually talk about the first hundred days. In Tony Blair's case it may be the first hundred hours.

 

Their quick tempo actions have provoked both awe and cynicism. Labour's ministers are acting like adolescents in a saloon bar. They want to try every drink in the house, said ex-chancellor of the exchequer, Kenneth Clarke, with more than a touch of pique.

In the forefront is the man who made the headlines by refusing to wear a dress suit for dinner. The chancellor of the exchequer, Gordan Brown, is breaking all precedents by working 18-hour days and turning up for formal dinners in his favourite blue suit and red tie. Brown has been the pace-setter in the new government. Four days after moving into his new office, he gave the BoE freedom to fix interest rates. He immodestly described the move as the biggest ever change in the Bank of England since it was nationalised in 1946.

Brown earned high praise for giving up the government's power to decide interest rates. But what he gave with one hand he took away with the other. Last week he announced the setting up of a new super regulator for the banks and financial services. The BoE, which used to handle this job, has been sliced out of the picture.

Blair meanwhile has been playing the international statesman and building bridges in Europe. Since day one, he has been putting out feelers to Europe's leaders and they have responded enthusiastically.

Blair was the star of the show when Europe's leaders gathered last week in Noordjwik, Netherlands. And he used the new stardom to lay down the law for Europe's leaders. Britain, he said, would play its part. But we will stand up absolutely for Britain's interests. Despite the tough words there was no doubt that Europe's leaders were glad to get away from the handbag tactics of Margaret Thatcher and the stonewalling of John Major. Blair has already signed on for Europe's Social Chapter, which prescribes minimum wages and maximum working hours which were opposed by the Tory government.

With Blair promising a rapid revolution and Brown working at breakneck pace to deliver one, Labour's other ministers are also under pressure to deliver change. As secretary of state for education, David Blunkett isn't a man who likes to be left behind. If Blunkett is having difficulty wading through state papers in Braille (he is blind) it certainly isn't showing.

He has started out robustly by tossing Britain's worst schools into a sin bin and humiliating them publicly. Fifteen of Britain's schools were named as the worse schools in Britain. The step had teachers up in arms saying that the move would damage morale. Blunkett certainly doesn't appear concerned by the mixed grades he is getting from the teaching world. Indeed, he is charging about the education ministry like a man with a mission. He has already made it clear that new wave teaching methods are to be dropped and children must be taught the basics of reading,