...The UN virtually takes the leftist approach on every issue they face...
I agree with you on one point - the UN is pretty worthless.
But the reason for that is because the veto wielding countries can block any legislation they don't like. Because the US government has the power and inclination to do what it wants, to whom it wants, how it wants, this makes the UN pretty much irrelevant.
I have no position whatsoever on agreeing with/respecting their approach, as they cannot achieve anything worth judging without the support of the nation members.
I am well aware of the criteria.
I'll take your word for it. Though I wasn't aware that "Government owned oil" was something they ranked.
...I'm just trying to point out that they take the 'left' position on a great number of issues...
I (only slightly jokingly) noted in an earlier post that Bush/Cheney were slightly to the right of Genghis Khan.
I would certainly agree that right wing UK politics are to the left of US politics, but that would be true of most of major countries I can think of (i.e. most countries are to the left of the US).
...I'm not trying to knock on them because I have great respect for it's citizens and Tony Blair
And I thank you for it, but you're welcome to Blair, because most people in this country appear to think he's a weasel.
You think heavy government intervention in the private sector & tax payer subsidies are "not very left leaning"?
That would be very left leaning. But that's not what I said. The process of PPP is where previously publicly owned organisations are transferred across to private ownership. It's basically a smoke screen for privatisation.
BTW, I understand that the models of selling off publicly owned utility companies (electricity etc.) to private companies at knockdown prices was used by a previous UK government, and was then copied by the US. If memory serves me correctly, Greg Palast's excellent book "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy" has a particularly toe-curling account of the process, and how the guy on the street - i.e. you and me - got totally screwed by the deal.
EDIT: Incidentally, there was a program on UK TV a while back, with a right wing journalist/political commentator lamenting the fact that UK parties are all now fighting over the center right ground. Whilst he was very much to the right of most UK politics, his point was that a country needs the balance of left and right voices, in order to give the people a choice.
