万花筒 Kaleidoscope 2007-05-12&13, 布莱尔今宣布“让位”时间

（单词翻译）

A change at the top in Britain. After ten years, Prime Minister Tony Blair is stepping down. CBS News correspondent Sheila MacVicar is live in London with the latest, Sheila, good morning.

Good morning, Harry¹, well, it's a big day for Tony Blair and a big day for Britain. Tony Blair announcing just a few moments ago that he will stand down as Labor² Party leader, and thus the country's Prime Minister on the 27th of June, about 7 weeks from now. Today marks the beginning of what will be a long good-bye.

Today I announce my decision to stand down from the leadership of the Labor Party. The Party will now select a new leader. On the 27th of June, I will tender my resignation from the office of Prime Minister to the Queen.

Britain's Prime Minister traveled to his northern constituency this morning to make the long-awaited announcement. What a difference a decade makes! When Tony Blair became Prime Minister ten years ago, he was elected with a huge popular mandate³, (we are now today, the people's party.) What began with such promise is ending under the shadow of the deeply unpopular war in Iraq.

He was incredibly popular at first. He had a 93% approval rating. It is very different now, the feeling he's had his day. It's been long enough, and Iraq was a big, big misjudgment.

He ends his career as Prime Minister with 63% of voters thinking he was mediocre⁵ to disastrous⁶. In interviews, it is on Iraq that he takes a hammering.

Given the number of people who have died since the conflict, you never seem to be sorry about it.

Hang on a minute, of course I'm, I am devastated⁷ by the numbers of people who have died in Iraq.

It is now a fixture⁸ of parliamentary life that Blair marked the death of every British service person killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. What has added to the damage is a close relationship between Blair and President Bush.

He is a friend of mine. I trust his judgment⁴, and I appreciate his wisdom.

But at home, Blair has been labeled Bush's poodle, a too willing ally who led his country into Iraq.

It is Iraq that is really going to be his legacy⁹, you know the information, the intelligence, it was all gussied up, it was all tweaked. We were misled, frankly¹⁰.

Iraq threatens to overshadow everything else the Blair government accomplished¹¹. He helped make peace in Northern Ireland. He leaves behind a thriving economy.

This is the government of the living dead. This is a government that has run the strongest economy this country has seen in 10 years. Come a general election, it is policy that counts, and on policy we win and he loses.

Blair with his young family and high-flying lawyer wife brought new energy to Downing Street. Although he was allegedly not the queen's favorite prime minister of the 10 she has dealt with, he has been the second longest serving.

In the next seven weeks, the Labor Party will choose a new leader, very likely going to be Golden Brown who most handily lives right next door at No.11 and he will become Britain's next Prime Minister. Harry.

Sheila MacVicar, live in London this morning, thank you very much