i quite like tony blair
I know I’m going to be in the minority on this one but I feel the vitriol currently being heaped upon Tony Blair is misguided and misplaced. To all intents and purposes he finished the good work started by John Smith in saving the Labour party from itself, enabled it to appeal to a wider electorate, presided over more good domestic years for the UK than most other prime ministers, but made the fatal mistake of outstaying his welcome.
His defence of Kosovo and Sierra Leone certainly deserves a mention. Yes, the Iraq war turned out to be a disaster, not because we deposed a megalomaniac brute who murdered hundreds of thousands, but because of the US administration’s incompetence in running the peace. Dubya, Rumsfeld and Cheney have a great deal more on their consciences than perhaps the idealistic and naive Mr Blair.
It’ll be interesting to see if the ‘Cleggeron’ administration will have the moral fibre to face any new threat to our, and the democratic world’s freedom. Every time we choose to ignore or surrender to evil, we encourage it. And as for his former party colleagues who now distance themselves from both Mr Blair and his actions, they have a very short memory. The gratitude they owe him is immeasurable.
And just for the record, Gordon Brown wasn’t THAT bad either. His years of sustained efforts to encourage nuclear disarmament, strengthen international development, eradicate child poverty, and prevent a slump in the wake of global financial collapse surely warrants some respect and admiration?
