The latest front cover of satirical magazine Private Eye depicts Tony Blair peering through a magnifying glass and exclaiming, “Oh look - it’s my legacy!”
After a decade of a Labour Government, how will you remember Tony Blair’s premiership?
Will it - as the critics say - be Iraq, WMDs, dodgy dossiers and spin?
Or will it actually be ‘education, education, education’? Or, perhaps, for the improvements Labour say that they have made to public services up and down the country?
Whatever your views, have your say and tell us what you think Blair’s legacy really will be.
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As the Government PR department goes into overdrive trying to airbrush Tony Blair’s real legacy in the world media. I would like to share my own thoughts on his legacy looking at his record on some ‘moral issues’ over the last ten years, which are probably a more accurate measure of how he and his government have affected British society over the last ten years:
Tony Blair has led a Government that has shown no respect whatsoever for Christian values, not once in 10 yrs of government, as far as I can see.
When it comes to any moral issues like reviewing outdated abortion laws, he sits on the fence or even worse votes with the feminist / atheist view.
Women are often ‘coerced’ by government funded clinics into abortions without any proper counselling or being allowed the time to consider other alternatives. Also without consideration to the lasting, spiritual, mental and emotional consequences on the woman, sometimes for the rest of her life.
The morning after pill and condoms dished out to young teenagers like sweets; by our schools, colleges, universities, family planning clinics, chemist, supermarket pharmacist etc often without counselling, without proper sex education (no talk of responsibility or lasting loving relationships). No wonder we have one of the highest sexual transmitted disease rates in the world amongst our young people. Not to mention the highest pregnancy and abortion rates in Europe, also in this age group.
His Government has used political correctness to try and control society.
His Government introduced multiculturalism, that has also divided the nation and created religious and cultural ghettos.
His Government have led us into several wars that had nothing to do with us and led to the deaths of 100,000s of innocent civilians.
His Government have introduced at least nine new gay rights laws and repeatedly bowed down to the gay militant gay rights lobby, even if it means riding roughshod over the beliefs and values of faith communities and the silent majority to appease them.
His Government have done nothing to protect Asian British women from abuse … forced marriages and honour killings and the like, continue. They have consistently turned a blind eye to this known problem. Is it too much to ask that ALL WOMEN in the UK should have equal rights? (Not just those where it is politically correct to say so).
His Government have been the most arrogant government in history completely ignoring public opinion and the majority view…
This Government have put new Labour cronies in the House of Lords, not on merit but how much they donated to the party!
His Government has controlled the nation with sleaze and spin, shamelessly telling one untruth after another!
His Government will go down in history as the most atheistic/secularist liberal Government ever..
His Government did absolutely nothing to support family values, in fact it seems it did everything they could to undermine the traditional family. (You know one father, one mother, married to one another and children brought up in a secure and loving environment, or is it not politically correct now to mention such an antiquated grouping!)
Tony Blair might claim to be religious but he is not a Christian on the evidence I can see.
He will be judged by his actions not his glib claims.
He and his Government have consistently behaved like ‘trendy Islington liberals’.
My view on Tony Blair is good riddance; your moral legacy is that you brought far more harm than good to the British Nation and its society.
- Posted by Simon IckeBlair has wiped the slate clean in that he le-
- Posted by chippy783gitimized our haste to war. Now I can deal with France and Syria and even cuba, but I can’t deal with war and it’s total waste
Give me gordon any day, being a Conservative, its going to be far easier fighting him than Blair or anyone new.
- Posted by MartinIraq was his mistake but he should be praised for his role in the Northern Ireland settlement. We will be out of Iraq in the near future but freedom from IRA terrorism will be with us for much longer.
Our strong economy is down to Brown rather than Blair but the much needed investment in our health and education is the legacy of both.
- Posted by John PalmerIf Neville Chamberlain and Tony Blair had swapped places in history , Tony would have been right to stand up to Hitler and Chamberlain would have been right to exhaust all peaceful missions with Saddham .Iraq is a blot on Tony’s CV. But I do not think that any other PM would have acted differently . We owe the US alot for their unconditional help during the two World wars . If it was not for the Americans , we would not be sitting here in a free democratic society . If they had to defend us then, then we had to defend them now.
- Posted by manish thanki“Hand on heart. I did what I thought was right.” No doubt, Bin Laden shares exactly the same sentiment about 9/11.
The difference? One is about to retire to a life of luxury and after-dinner speeches, while the other is probably hiding in a cave somewhere.
Is this justice?
- Posted by AbbasiI must say, i think many people are being over critical of Mr Blair’s administration, especially when you think of the alternatives that were on offer. I am politically and ideologically opposed to Mr Blair, however, i beleieve that he still deserves to be respected and his legacy evaluated.
No matter how we may disagree with his policies. No Matter how we may criticise his administration, we cannot deny that he has changed this country, for better or for worse.
He has made policy blunders, of course, he is only human eversince. He has made mistakes whilst in office, but surely that is expected. The problem is not that Mr Blair has made mistakes, but that the British public idealise their leader. The problem is not with the politics, but the unscrupulous eyes of the Murdoch media.
I am a child of the Blair Years. His Premiership has dominated my life, 7 years under Major and 10 under Blair. We may disagree on politics, we may belong to different parties, but still i respect his achievements, and his legacy. He has not been perfect, but he has been necessary, who else could have governed us?? Mr Blair was a breath of fresh air. His policies and radical actions may not have succeeded, but those failures are not his legacy. He may have committed us to a disastrous war (which Parliament voted for!!), but that is not what he should be remember for. His enduring legacy, his gift to this once again Great Nation is hope. Mr Blair brought us optimism, he reinvigerated politics and the populous. He made us feel that we could change the world, and that we could once again be great. Mr Blair brought us hope, but he will leave us with a void. A void which was once filled by his charisma, his spin and his blunders. His charm, his tactics and his failures. But this void will be left vacant, this feeling with endure. The Puritanical Scottsman will quickly have us wishing for Blair. The Moribund Technocrat will cement Blair’s legacy, and shed light upon his successes. Blair’s exit will leave the doors open to political reform, to electoral failure and hung parliament.
Although i understand why many people are critical at the Blair Premiership, it is important to look at the selection of leaders we will have at the next election. Boring Brown, Creepish Cameron and Moribund Menzies
Good bye Mr Blair, i was proud to have you as my PM no matter what you may have done, and this is coming from a Neo- Liberal
- Posted by Joe CookeAfter 10 years at Number 10, it is sad that Mr. Blair will forever be linked with Britain’s single worst foreign policy decision in the last 100 years — Iraq-Nam. He has no one but himself to blame for that legacy.
Beyond that, the inequalities that Labour used to oppose have worsened, university students now graduate thousands of pounds in debt, and can anyone in the UK find dentist still in the NHS? And how much for a peerage at today’s exchange rate?
Assemblies in Wales and Scotland, and the half-done reform of Lords are likely to be the biggest positive changes he brought about. Had he left office five years ago, he might have been a great PM. Now, he’s merely a long-serving one.
- Posted by Jeff MyhreLeaves behind a shameful legacy of unfulfilled promises - sadly it is alegacy this country may well suffer from for many years in the future; his original nickname “Bambi”summed upthe true stature of this individual.
- Posted by Chris LawrenceIt is quite astonishing that it took him so long to leave. The lust for treasure and blood is too strong and as i look at it democracy cannot stand up to the challenge of elected representatives out to subvert and misuse majorities. We are already hearing that we may expect more of the same from the next leadertship. Does the country have no conscience - can we look ourselves in the mirror and say this was the best way to handle Iraq? The subversion of the will of the people and the use of brute force has weakened democracy beyond repair.
- Posted by HoshiPrime Minister Blair, a great leader.
- Posted by CL MurrayOur President, similar to your Prime Minister, is not a dictator. One must remember that we have representative governments and that no individual can usurp the rights and will of the people. Although it is easier to blame the worlds sorrows on one person, (or two as the case may be with President Bush and Prime Minister Blair), our representatives (U.S. Congress or Parliament of the United Kingdom) should not be dismissed from the blame for missteps in foreign and domestic policies. However, the United Kingdom, America, and many other countries recognize that we are in a new type of war. The war is against terrorists who have no compassion for anyone, anywhere, or anytime. They hate all people who do not subscribe to their doctrine. This is not the war my father fought in Europe when he was captured during the Battle of the Bulge. No, this is an undeclared war without boundaries against all freedom loving people. So, if any of the purveyors of hate against Prime Minister Blair or President Bush can answer the question of how we manage such a new type of war, then you are better then all of the leaders of free world. May God grant us the wisdom to bring peace and freedom for all and understanding and compassion for our differences. And that, my dear friends, is the difference between us and them, we pray for compassion and they pray for hate and death.
Florida, USA
It’s OK, Bush has a new French poodle.
- Posted by Steven R. Wolfson, Ph.D.