I just came back from the UK (mostly Cornwall & London) last month and was dismayed at how badly things have deteriorated there. Crime is out of control, the credit-fueled boom recklessly encouraged by Gordon Brown has burned out (leaving behind a ton of bankrupts and a enormous load of white-elephant commercial/residential development; I was disgusted to see some of the most beautiful beaches in Devon & Cornwall effectively destroyed by speculative crap...in just the last 5 years!). Worst of all, New labor under Blair has become a caricature of the GOP under Bush(When a friend of mine predicted this 5 years ago, I dismissed it as liberal paranoia-but it's undeniable now). Now Blair's legacy to the UK will be: 1. Joining Bush in the doomed-from-the-start Iraqi quagmire 2. Rows and rows of hideous suburban development a-la-Houston all across the once-beautiful English countryside 3. Plenty of casinos where fools can gamble away their hard-earned dole money 4. Pubs open all night, so fools can spend what's left of their money on booze. 5. Londonistan, fugitive terrorist capital of the world. Go Blair Go! The North sea oil and gas running out faster than expected, and wind farms are not a solution (unfortunately, they may not be a solution, short of going back to coal, if there's any still left). The UK is going to become an even more dysfunctional place in the coming years, especially if continued terror attacks scare the tax-payers away. Most disturbing of all (and this is at least one thing Blair/New Labor aren't to blame for, directly is the general decline in trust and 'coziness' England is an increasingly overcrowded, jealous, resentful country (as American-style McMansions, cars and sprawl become more popular...unfortunately, there's simply not enough room in England for people to live an American lifestyle...it's not a matter of ideology, it's a matter of *space*). Most alarming of all, the loutish behavior of the so-called 'working' classes (you can recognize them easily: anyone who is male, drunk, tattooed, loud, obnoxious, mentally ill and unemployed qualifies) is now spreading to the middle classes and even the countryside. I hope England gets better, though I fear it will get worse.