Holiday Downer at Downing
Blair can't unspin 'Cheriegate', and Dubya's America can't catch a break in European opinion polls
by Nicola Mitchell

Dec. 27, 2002 -- LONDON (APJP) -- The world of politics, both in the US and the UK, has seen plenty of ups and downs over the last few weeks.

On this side of the pond, we've been treated to the Trent Lott saga, along with Al Gore's recent announcement that he will not run for president in 2004 -- but all of that has been pushed to the sideline in the UK, as once again Tony Blair, and in particular his wife Cherie, have found themselves the subjects of media scrutiny.

It may be the season of good will to all men, but the Blairs have not been on the receiving end of much Christmas spirit of late, as the latest scandal to hit Number 10, the 'Cheriegate' saga, has defied the laws of spin and managed to grip both the nation and the press for well over two weeks.

The 'scandal' started with the news that Cherie Blair had taken financial advice from a convicted criminal when buying a flat for her son Euan to live in while away from home at university. The criminal in question is Peter Foster, boyfriend to one of Cherie's best friends, Carole Caplin, who herself has a dubious past as a lap dancer, among other things.

The crisis at number 10 was further deepened when members of the press, notably a writer for the Daily Mail (a right wing, Blair hating tabloid), alleged that Cherie had interfered in legal proceeding to have Peter Foster deported from the UK.

All in all it has been a truly remarkable week for both the UK press and government. We have seen Cherie Blair reduced to tears and forced to give a public statement about her involvement in the Foster affair and the Downing Street spin machine unravel before our very eyes as it tried to combat the crisis, much to the delight of the press.

But while the Cheriegate saga has continued to be the hot topic of conversation, Blair has insisted he wants to keep focused on the important matters of office -- notably the ever increasing likelihood of going to war with Iraq.

Dubya has been talking up his stance of Iraq by giving formal assent to deploy a further 50,000 soldiers to the Gulf; meanwhile, in his Christmas message to the UK's military forces, Blair has been preparing troops for war, and apologising for the uncertainty the faced.

Said Blair in his speech: "The key thing at the moment is to make all the preparations necessary, and to make sure that we are building up the capacity in the region ñ both the America's and ourselves- and that we are able to undertake this mission if it falls on us to do so."

But while Blair attempts to struggle with the pressures of his job and his family, he can rest safe in the knowledge that even though the Cherie debacle has been a damaging experience to Number 10, he is still more popular that Dubya himself -- after a recent poll showed the US, under Bush's lead, was more unpopular than ever.

Nineteen countries polled showed a trend of antipathy toward the US on the rise, and goodwill draining away. What's more, favourability in the usually loyal Western Europe was down five or six percentage points over the last three years. Here in the UK when asked whether the spread of American ideas was good or bad, 50 per cent of Britons said bad.

From results like these, it seems apparent that the 1 million Christmas cards sent out by Bush were a bit of a waste. Maybe he should think about reassessing his Christmas list for next year.