I WAS watching the Beethoven programme on Saturday night and was struck by the disappointment and anger felt by the composer when he received the news that Napoleon had declared himself an Emperor.
I was one who rejoiced when Tony Blair came to power. I fondly believed that he was a true man of the people, not just another adventurer. I had hoped for the end of the Royal Prerogative and that the rich and powerful would no longer be able to buy favours, honours, and influence. I naively hoped for the end of Tory spin and of grubby relationships with international business and unsavoury dictators. Cook's ethical foreign policy had, hopefully, signalled the end of the obsession with arms sales and support for CIA antics in South America.
Sadly I was wrong. Power has gone to Blair's head. His quote over the invasion of Iraq, ''I would do the
same . . . '' says it all. In the end, perhaps they are all the same. I am well disappointed and hope that a small independent Scotland would not tolerate such abuse of power.
Rod Stewart Liddon,
Glenhinnisdal, Isle of Skye.
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