Blair to quit: Your views on his time in office

[Zeppo]

Tony who?

All I remember is a grinning snake oil salesman who laughed while shaking the hands of Bush, Geldof and Bono. Lied to get into a war and has blood on his hands.

Soon there will be demands to build a Mr Tony statue but it will be destroyed within a week.

 

[chilango]

He could've been remembered for introducing the minimum wage, repositioning Labour as centre-right party with a few social reforms as compensation, for attempts at peace internationally.

But, no, Jesus told him to be a mass-murdering fuckwad.

...and now he's running away from the mess he and Dubya created.

Hit n Run coward.

 

[TAE]

People are talking far too much sense in this thread.

I dunno, the UK plays a pretty key role in providing a fig-leaf of international consensus to US neo-con schemes.

Agreed.

His biggest crime in my book was his presidential style of government from the centre which neutered the House of Commons. As has been mentioned on these boards before, listen to the debate after the Falklands invasion of 1982 & compare with the supine love in on the Iraq war vote in 2003.

Agreed.

And how was he able to do that?

Because in the absence of a written constitution and a legitimate head of state, the PM has extraordinary powers to rule almost by decree.

Agreed.

 

[Haller]

in the absence of a written constitution and a legitimate head of state, the PM has extraordinary powers to rule almost by decree.

Blair did, however, go some way towards restricting those powers, by going to Parliament for a vote on the invasion of Iraq. There was no constitutional requirement for him to do so, but that decision will make it very difficult for a future prime minister to declare war without the approval of Parliament.

One of the virtues of not having a written constitution is that it evolves.

 

[idiotdave]

Expected watered down thatcherism, got watered down thatcherism and mass murder.

Cheers.

 

[TAE]

Blair did, however, go some way towards restricting those powers, by going to Parliament for a vote on the invasion of Iraq. There was no constitutional requirement for him to do so, but that decision will make it very difficult for a future prime minister to declare war without the approval of Parliament.

He knew he had the support of the Tories, so it was just another PR exercise for him. I don't think he would have gone to Parliament if there had been a risk of loosing.

 

[Haller]

He knew he had the support of the Tories, so it was just another PR exercise for him. I don't think he would have gone to Parliament if there had been a risk of loosing.

I agree entirely. But like so many of Blair's actions, he did it for PR reasons without thought of the implications and consequences. In doing so, however, he set a precedent that will bind his successors.

 

[TAE]

I'm not sure it did set a precedent, but I suppose one can always hope.

 

[taffboy gwyrdd]

Scotland and Welsh Devolution: big tick
Northern Ireland: great continuation of the work of many others

Negatives:

Arch autoritarianism and centralisation
Billions down the PFI plughole
Hot air PR drivel on climate change and poverty
In Murdochs pocket
ID cards. ID cards. ID cards. Blairs apologists may like being treated like a criminal by the state. Most of us wont.
Corruption
War crimes



Only the economy, or the apeearance of it, is what makes anyone have good memories. They are not wise economists who know it is built on massive and unsustainable personal and public debt. The Enron economics of the last 10 years will catch up with us.

 

[ska invita]

Bremner does the definitive on Blair years:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_6660000/newsid_6664800/6664893.stm?bw=bb&mp=rm
>>>then go to "Bremner's take on Blair-Brown"

 

[audiotech]

Three interesting articles summing up the economic and social legacy of Blairism.

This all whilst the new leader in waiting, Brown has been Chancellor as well

Blair's legacy: a fantasy island trying to live beyond its means at every level.

http://business.guardian.co.uk/economicdispatch/story/0,,2079103,00.html
http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2082749,00.html

Inequality at same level as under Thatcher.

http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2082466,00.html