Word: premiership
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...reverse gear.' Today we could hear the gears grinding," he scoffed, to discomfort from the Labour benches and guffaws from his own. But for Blair, Britain and the E.U., the referendum is no joke. By championing a cause many in his own party consider unwinnable, Blair is risking his premiership - a humiliating rout could drive him from office. His about-face not only raises the prospect that one of the E.U.'s major countries will veto a treaty that requires approval by all 25 members, but creates awkward problems for the governments that figured they could get by without votes...
...Usually, men aren't the subjects of fairy tales, but that's what this is now: a male fairy tale, deep into Act III. Howard has stepped from a black-and-white life with the New York/New Jersey MetroStars of Major League Soccer to the Ozlike technicolor of the Premiership. Man U may have been in an unthinkable third place behind Arsenal and Chelsea at the end of the week, but Howard has been the steadiest hand in an uneven Red Devils' defense. "To come straight into the Premiership and to a club like Man United? Nobody could expect what...
...baldness), Howard flashes no jewelry and no temper, is flamboyant only in his aggression when a cross rockets into the box. Since making the match-winning save against Arsenal's Robert Pires in his first big test last August, Howard had given up just 37 goals in 37 Premiership, FA Cup and Champions League matches through Saturday and had 14 shutouts - not the most impressive numbers, but not bad, either, considering the raft of suspensions and injuries to United's defenders. But mostly, Howard has been notable for consistency, the dullest of words until you realize it's the last...
...that two of them - that could have forced him from office. On Tuesday, Blair squeezed a scant five-vote victory - despite Labour's 161-vote majority in the House of Commons - to clear the path of a bill to charge students more to attend university. (He'd staked his premiership on the outcome, and a loss could have led to a vote of confidence against him.) The very next day, Blair and the rest of his government were comprehensively cleared by Lord Hutton's inquiry into the death of government weapons-expert David Kelly, who killed himself last year after...
...through months of hearings kept open the possibility of a body blow that could force Blair from office. But Blair has never been one to wait for blows to land. In speeches and on TV and radio, he hammered home the virtues of his bill, and by implication his premiership. Last week his aides were planning a blitz of new initiatives in health, crime and transport on the assumption he'd at least stay in office, and perhaps emerge safe and dry from both Hutton and tuition fees. They find the alternative - leading a fractious, 1980s-style Labour Party unwilling...