Liverpool FC Forum

[Big Niall]

Mo Mowlam died today.

Whatever your take on Northern Ireland, most agree it is better now than 10 years ago and she did a lot to bring around the good friday agreement.

I remember she got a standing ovation at the labour party conference, longer than Blair got, soon enough Blair got rid of her - only room for one "star".

What a colourful character, admitted smoking grass, saying it should be legalised, taking wig off in meetings, talking about sex openly.

[matrix]

Mo Mowlam died today.

Whatever your take on Northern Ireland, most agree it is better now than 10 years ago and she did a lot to bring around the good friday agreement.

I remember she got a standing ovation at the labour party conference, longer than Blair got, soon enough Blair got rid of her - only room for one "star".

What a colourful character, admitted smoking grass, saying it should be legalised, taking wig off in meetings, talking about sex openly.

good post big niall   couldnt agree more verry much down to earth character  there wont be another one like her in the house thats for sure   

[The Ace1983]

She was one of the few politicians you could actually trust and even rarer, she actually cared too.

[Woollyback]

yeah that's sad, she was one of a very rare breed of politicians - one who did the job to serve her constituents and her country rather than merely to serve herself. RIP Mo

[JBG]

RIP Mo.

Mo is extremely well liked in Ireland.....at least in most parts, although some Unionists weren't happy with her as they thought she was too biased towards Nationalists in Northern Ireland.

She was a very brave woman: in 1997 Loyalist violence started to brew again and Mo visited Johnny Adair and other Loyalist terrorists in prison in order to try and get them to crack down on the trouble.

[Gareth G]

I am a Loyalist myself, but I respect what she tried to achieve. RIP.

[66-1120597113]

Sad that mo has gone!She was a great woman and had more bottle than any male poliician i can think of! Always spoke her mind whether we liked it or not.Im a loyalist from belfast and ive never had anything respect for her! She done a lot for all people here and had a massive hand in bringing us peace!I think it will be a long time to her unique caring nature and achievments will be matched in politics,if ever!
RIP Mo Mowlam!!

[wrighty (not mark!)]

Even though I'm a proud conservative, it is sad to see that the Labour party have lost two of their most charismatic leaders over the past month.(Robin Cook and now Mo Mowlam).Let's not forget who started the peace process though.

It's a shame for politics because it would be boring if we all had the same view wouldn't it!? Can you see Blair going to her funeral? Let's wait and see.

RIP

[Lando_Griffin]

RIP.

[Architect]

I remember she got a standing ovation at the labour party conference, longer than Blair got, soon enough Blair got rid of her - only room for one "star".

Mo said in her autobiography that after the party conference in which she got a standing ovation during Blair's speech - the sniping started shortly afterwards by the Downing Street machine.

As Northern Ireland secretary, she attracted higher approval ratings than any other Cabinet minister - and the New Labour spin machine were concerned that she was becoming more popular than Blair.

Mo that the campaign against her from Labour spin doctors was "vicious and appalling behaviour by the people that did it."

Mo said that inaccurate stories about her treatment for a brain tumour and allegations that she was "losing the plot" were planted by spin doctors in the press to deliberately undermine her. She was then demoted from her Northern Ireland post.

"My health was used against me through a vicious and personal whispering campaign. I thought it was disgusting. They would stop at nothing," she said.

Some of the sniping is believed to have come from Peter Mandelson's circle of friends - it was Mandelson who took over Mo's job at Northern Ireland after she was demoted.


Blair suddenly changed his tune after Mo died - saying that she was "one of the shrewdest political minds he had encountered and a remarkable personality. Mo was full of life and fun. She was a natural politician and could read a situation and analyse and assess it as fast as anyone," said Blair in his tribute.

This is not what was being said about Mo by Blair's spin doctors before she lost her job in Ulster. They were doing everything they could to undermine her.

The ruthlessness of the New Labour spin machine can be brutal in the way they treat people. After the Paddington rail crash survivor Pam Warren (below) , began to ask some awkward questions about the Government's transport policy, one spin doctor circulated an e-mail to colleagues asking for the dirt to be dished on her private life so she could be undermined in the media.





Plus of course there was the infamous occasion when Labour spin doctor Jo Moore e-mailed colleagues minutes after the Sept 11th twin towers attack, to say that it was a "very good day to bury our bad news".

In 1997, New Labour pledged to be "whiter than white" after the years of Tory sleaze. The reality is that they're just another bunch of ruthless barstewards.