Bye Bye Blair

[Chinahand]

He's quit - Relieved?

 

Blair will stand down on 27 June

 

Tony Blair has announced he will stand down as prime minister on 27 June.

He made the announcement in a speech to party activists in his Sedgefield constituency, after earlier briefing the Cabinet on his plans.

 

He acknowledged his government had not always lived up to high expectations but said he had been "very blessed" to lead "the greatest nation on earth".

 

He will stay on in Downing Street until the Labour Party elects a new leader - widely expected to be Gordon Brown.

 

In an emotional speech, Mr Blair said he had been prime minister for 10 years which was "long enough" for the country and himself.

[Pragmatopian]

5 years too late in my opinion. It all went tits up after the War of Terror started and he became Bush's lap dog.

 

Having said that, I don't find Brown a very palatable alternative - he's managed the economy responsibly enough, but he lacks the charisma that is required of a world leader.

[x-in-man]

Great

6 bloody weeks of blar blar Blair reviews on the telly, radio, newspapers .. .. ..

[Declan]

If you think about it, for people in their twenties and thirties this is probably only the third time they can remember something like this happening. We are probably too young to remember or have taken much notice of Mrs T coming to power, so Thatcher leaving No. 10 in tears, and Major and the Tories getting swept away in '97 are our only experiences. This seems so anti-climatic.

[Declan]

He acknowledged his government had not always lived up to high expectations but said he had been "very blessed" to lead "the greatest nation on earth".

 

What did Samuel Johnson say about Patriotism?

[Cronky]

The man is a complete Arse and the sooner we can forget about him the better.

[Pat Ayres]

The man is a complete Arse and the sooner we can forget about him the better.

Is that the best you can do? Can you even try to imagine what another 10 yrs of tory policy would have done for the people of these islands? He might not be to your liking but he headed a strong team of forward thinking pragmatists that, after 18 yrs of pure uncaring capitalism, pulled Britain and it's close neighbours out of the miasma of inward thinking protectionism we were wallowing under and delivered a true economic result to the effect we enjoy a standard of living only dreamed of by the majority of the population 20 yrs ago.

I am not going to list the achievements of the last 10 yrs because I fear I will only be shot at by the daily Mail reading fascista that frequent these pages, that's I would rather leave to real politicians and not 'bar room generals' like yourself.

He may be an "Arse" but at least he did something positive, yourself?

[P.K.]

It's certainly aged him, that's for sure.

 

Hopefully he has changed the face of UK politics forever. The appalling Mrs T would only be interviewed on the telly by an interviewer of her choice and the questions chosen by her and her team. It's difficult to believe now since Blair has put himself in front of Joe Public and done it for real. Can you imagine Thatcher or Major doing the same?

 

I think facing Joe Public will be Browns achilles heel. He doesn't come over very well and always looks uncomfortable.

 

On the plus side "two bonks" Prezza is on his way as well. On the down side the extremely capable John "Rottweiler" Reid is probably going too. I well remember him giving people like the "Today" team and others a very hard time indeed.

 

Wait and see mode.

[Pragmatopian]

The man is a complete Arse and the sooner we can forget about him the better.

Is that the best you can do? Can you even try to imagine what another 10 yrs of tory policy would have done for the people of these islands? He might not be to your liking but he headed a strong team of forward thinking pragmatists that, after 18 yrs of pure uncaring capitalism, pulled Britain and it's close neighbours out of the miasma of inward thinking protectionism we were wallowing under and delivered a true economic result to the effect we enjoy a standard of living only dreamed of by the majority of the population 20 yrs ago.

I am not going to list the achievements of the last 10 yrs because I fear I will only be shot at by the daily Mail reading fascista that frequent these pages, that's I would rather leave to real politicians and not 'bar room generals' like yourself.

He may be an "Arse" but at least he did something positive, yourself?

 

I have to agree with the anti-tory sentiment: they look comparably electable now compared to the shower that were on offer in '97 and '02. The first five years of Blair government tried to put right a lot of wrongs, and succeeded on some counts. Unfortunately 9/11 destroyed that momentum.

[R_ReaVeR]

He's quit - Relieved?

 

Yes good riddance, but with that buffoon Brown taking over it will not improve............not sure how much more the country can take from Labour, they've done enough damage in 10 years to last a lifetime.

[Lost Login]

I am not a labour supporter but in general they have been a fairly middle of the road government. The sort of middle of the road party that Cameron is now trying to make the tories be. They have done some things right and some things wrong but to say they have done enough damage to last a lifetime just seems to be a predjudiced view of labour no matter what they did. Over the last ten years the economy has generally remained stable, strong and buoyant so they must have done the odd thing right

 

 

not sure how much more the country can take from Labour, they've done enough damage in 10 years to last a lifetime.

[bluemonday]

I had great hopes when he got in. Fairness and decency. Wasn't there also mention of an ethical foriegn policy? Ah well shows how daft I was. He managed to prove that the Tories don't have the monopoly on corruption, lies and pure self serving interest.

[Lost Login]

I would agree to an extent with this. In reality the UK has bumbled along OK under Blair but that expectations were high when he was elected and that many feel let down based on these expectations. The use of "spin" and the consequenses of "Iraq" have not helped either but I tend to discount "spin" as any one and everyone is forced to rely on PR these days as every utterance is under the media spotlight. The consequence is that all parties are doing all they can to manage and control themselves under this spot light

 

 

I had great hopes when he got in. Fairness and decency. Wasn't there also mention of an ethical foriegn policy? Ah well shows how daft I was. He managed to prove that the Tories don't have the monopoly on corruption, lies and pure self serving interest.

[R_ReaVeR]

I am not a labour supporter but in general they have been a fairly middle of the road government. The sort of middle of the road party that Cameron is now trying to make the tories be. They have done some things right and some things wrong but to say they have done enough damage to last a lifetime just seems to be a predjudiced view of labour no matter what they did. Over the last ten years the economy has generally remained stable, strong and buoyant so they must have done the odd thing right

 

On the contrary, the damage they have done that will affect me during my lifetime can be summed up in one word: PENSIONS. Whilst I am also not a supporter of Labour, I do not see the other 2 main parties as offering a much better alternative as they currently stand. Slightly off topic, it will be interesting to see what President Sarkozy does in France and whether he lives up to his election mandate.

[Shill]

In the main the labour government has been a success under Blair. However they really shot themselves in the foot with the invasion of Iraq, it should of been handled a lot better. Unlike some, I have no strong views regarding whether the UK should have invaded or not. What I do know is, that the decisions that were made over it were the beginning of the end for Blair.