What’s next for Britain?

Re “Blair’s ‘end’ ushers in Brown’s ‘change,’ ” June 28

Tony Blair may have shed a genuine tear as he left his post as British prime minister, but I can only rejoice at seeing the back of that man. Turning a deaf ear to the moral outrages screamed at him by his constituents, Blair foolishly bought into President Bush’s war in Iraq.

The legacy he leaves for the British is balkanization of the United Kingdom, heartbreak over the senseless deaths of the British military and wanton waste of limited funds and resources to follow in Bush’s folly to create an Anglo-American empire in the Middle East. New Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s biggest challenge will be to restore his country.

ANN ASHWORTH

Fullerton

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Re “Brown is getting his day in the sun,” June 27

I am quite envious after reading about Britain’s new prime minister, Gordon Brown. Not only is he an avid reader with a doctorate in history, he’s written a scholarly book about courage and studied heroes such as Nelson Mandela and Robert Kennedy. The prime minister also seems obsessed with eliminating poverty -- as he wrote, “A truly socialist society would free men and women from the fear of poverty, the uncertainties of unemployment and the miseries of deprivation.”

Not only does our president seem uninterested in any of these concerns, he has led our country to the very brink of environmental and fiscal disaster with hundreds of billions of dollars of debt and the blood of thousands of American soldiers and hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis on his hands. Our country knows little else but fear these days.

Let us hope that Brown will not become (as Blair was) a lapdog to our foolish leader, and let’s pray (or hope, if you are more inclined) for a new leader with real courage, true family values and much-needed intellect.

DENISE MUNRO ROBB

Los Angeles