In describing Blair as "the most successful current left-wing political leader", however, the Czech daily Mladá fronta Dnes, which devoted four pages to his March 11 visit, revealed a basic misunderstanding of both British and global politics. Blair isn't a left-wing politician; in fact, under his leadership, the British Labour Party has moved sharply to the right and has continued to co-opt Conservative Party programs. That Blair is the leader of a political party that used to be Social Democratic is only a matter of historical accident.

"We both believe in strong economies combined with high levels of social justice. We both believe in a constructive and good relationship in the Transatlantic Alliance and we are strong partners and share the same values and ideas in the European Union," Blair said of the ČSSD. "So I think the links between the two parties are clear," he said, ahead of giving Paroubek a London double-decker bus to use for electioneering.

Big brother tendencies

While it's true that in his speeches, Blair makes some concessions to Social Democrats' rhetoric -- "equality of opportunity," "level playing field," "social welfare" -- in reality, his practical political program has very little in common with theirs. This is why the "sincerity" and "charisma" so much discussed and admired by the Czech media has long been seen through in the U.K. as a cynical, hypocritical act.

But the most worrying thing about Blair goes beyond party politics. He is seen by many as a total control freak, as a leader with an almost Stalinist urge to control the lives of the country's citizens. As Amnesty International has recently warned, he adjusts existing laws and curtails democratic freedoms in order to extend the powers of his government, and has ordered people held in prison without trial.

It was the British government that pushed the European Union to start recording information about all telephone and e-mail traffic. Blair is introducing electronic ID cards which will soon transmit information so that, if police need to know who is participating in a demonstration, it will be enough to scan the crowd with an electronic device, and a list of personal identities of the demonstrators will be automatically produced.

It's a bit of a mystery why Blair, whose policies have next to nothing in common with Paroubek's old-style Social Democrats, has decided to help the Czech leader in the election campaign. It's true that Blair is one of very few Western European politicians who realize that Central and Eastern Europe actually exists, and he wants to strengthen British ties with the region. But since he is a pragmatic strategist and talented power manipulator, perhaps Blair has simply looked at Czech politics and concluded that Paroubek's party will win the June elections here --- and so has decided to back the winning team.

First published in Czech Business Week on Monday 20th March, 2006 ZDE