In hindsight BLAIR was a great PR act but actually a terrible Prime Minister. Unchecked he would have taken us into the Euro, what an utter disaster that would have been. Almost all his legislation was flawed or has had unintended consequences - the costs of the Human Rights Act, for example.
He was not hands on. He was far too casual about legislation. Thatcher scrutinised all legislation at every level to ensure it actually did what she intended - Blair barely looked at his. He also had not a clue what his Chancellor was doing, much of which stored up devastating consequences for our finances just for short term popularity.
While he was PM he added 3,000 new crimes to the statute book, that is so not progressive. He boosted exam grade inflation and created targets that saw Englsh children plummet in world league tables, he devalued the global status of our universities, he flooded the country with immigrants to shore up Labour's vote yet built no houses for them and allowed our infrastructure to buckle and decay so that the UK has serious long term issues.
His government ended up borrowing record amounts just to run the NHS, the rich got very much richer, real wages fell, immigrants grew the economy but average workers got poorer - and so on. And yes he invaded Iraq and was aggressive towards Muslim fanatics while opening our borders and letting a fifth column into our country. He has much to answer for.
That said, he was able to bring a lot of people together, including in Northern Ireland. I do not call him a war criminal either. Iraq was wrong but not illegal. And he was good at posing on the world stage and flying our flag.
If we hadn't invaded Iraq, then Saddam Hussein would still be in power, all the fighting in the middle east and ISIS wouldn't be happening. Saddam kept a lid on things even if we didn't like his methods.
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Politicians generally lose popularity after around 6-7 years regardless of the circumstances.
He must have had a hotline to Septic Peg then.
Bliar made his money, built up his connections and ensured he was made for life then scarpered. A total coward.
I hope I live to see Bliar held to account for everything he did and every lie he told.
Are you kidding me? Anyone with 2 brain cells to rub together could see the credit boom was going to come to an end at some point.
....
Indeed.
Just like it is today.
He stayed in Westminster until it was safe.
yes we would because George Bush would still have invaded Iraq
nothing would be much different......
It's where he should be left to rot, with the blood stains permanently on his hands
We might remember Blair as the prime minster whose wise council persuaded the USA to focus on Afghanistan instead of Iraq.
ISIS may never have developed. Or the civil war in Syria.
He was not hands on. He was far too casual about legislation. Thatcher scrutinised all legislation at every level to ensure it actually did what she intended - Blair barely looked at his. He also had not a clue what his Chancellor was doing, much of which stored up devastating consequences for our finances just for short term popularity.
While he was PM he added 3,000 new crimes to the statute book, that is so not progressive. He boosted exam grade inflation and created targets that saw Englsh children plummet in world league tables, he devalued the global status of our universities, he flooded the country with immigrants to shore up Labour's vote yet built no houses for them and allowed our infrastructure to buckle and decay so that the UK has serious long term issues.
His government ended up borrowing record amounts just to run the NHS, the rich got very much richer, real wages fell, immigrants grew the economy but average workers got poorer - and so on. And yes he invaded Iraq and was aggressive towards Muslim fanatics while opening our borders and letting a fifth column into our country. He has much to answer for.
That said, he was able to bring a lot of people together, including in Northern Ireland. I do not call him a war criminal either. Iraq was wrong but not illegal. And he was good at posing on the world stage and flying our flag.
Tony Blair ended up being nothing but an embarrassment and made the UK a target.
Posing probably sums him up really. He put on a good front, just like Cameron does now.