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27 June 2007

On this day war criminal and compulsive liar Tony Blair will step down as Prime Minister.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6639945.stm

The countdown starts here.

Shame really, because if one were to ignore his foreign policy and relations he would have made a good PM- not perfect and without faults by any means, but better than many.

But I for one cannot ignore the disgraceful and criminal actions of this man.

Good riddance.
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Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Iraq is obviously a huge issue, but actually its things like civil rights, PFI and the cementing of the class structure which really get to me.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Aladdin wrote: »
    On this day war criminal and compulsive liar Tony Blair will step down as Prime Minister.



    :rolleyes:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    budda wrote: »
    Iraq is obviously a huge issue, but actually its things like civil rights, PFI and the cementing of the class structure which really get to me.
    He (or his party) did some very positive things early on though. The minimum wage was a fantastic achievements. The advancement of gay rights giving the Bank of England control over interest rates and the general management of the economy have been good too.

    But yes, his disgraceful selling out to private companies and love affair with "academies", faith schools and PFI initiatives cannot be forgotten either. All PFI examples are proving to be a failure, in particular in the health sector.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Certainly, there is a long list of good things, but they have come at an alarmingly high price - one which thanks to the PFI we will be paying for a long time to come.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    A mixed record really. Overall a pretty good pragmatic foreign policy, Blair got a lot of things right with regard to the US and Europe. Blair has brought gay equality, whilst the Conservatives would not reverse what Labour has done for equal rights - a Conservative leader would not have scrapped Section 28, or presided over the introduction of civil partnerships.

    The Iraq War has been badly handled. ID cards, the smoking ban and the fox hunting ban are just a few examples of the worrying increasing interference in people's lives by the government.

    And looking at the eurozone where there's lower interest rates and lower inflation perhaps one of Blair's biggest mistakes was not taking advantage of Labour's previous strong position to adopt the euro. I guess most of the blame for high taxes and high inflation lies with Brown though.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    budda wrote: »
    cementing of the class structure .

    :confused:

    What exactly do you mean?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    does anyone really think he's done much worse than any of the previous PM's?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Aladdin wrote: »
    war criminal and compulsive liar

    you are so full of shit,
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Toadborg wrote: »
    :confused:

    What exactly do you mean?

    If you are born poor now you are more likely to stay poor than you were under the Tories.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    good riddance for sure, but the only thing worse than tony blair as PM is....gordenron brown! i don't think he'll be in power long mind, when the economy starts to unravel he will be the fall guy and TB will be long gone.......
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Territt wrote: »
    you are so full of shit,
    No, he is.

    Unless you believe that

    a) What's happened in Iraq (illegal war, invasion and occupation under full pretenses) does not constitute a war crime- in which case I'd be interested to know what does

    b) Tony Blair hasn't lied repetedly not only about the case for war against Iraq but on many other issues as well

    Is that really what you believe?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Just looking at a graph showing his popularity with the public throughout his premiership:

    blair_rating04_416gr.gif


    I don't think many British PMs could have said they enjoyed popularity ratings of 75%, as Blair did at some point. All the bigger shame for throwing it away.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    how does that compare with previous PM's ? (I'm not one for following things like this)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I'm going to miss Tony Blair, I think he has been a good (not excellent)PM.

    I think they country has improved in many ways since he came to power. There have been some mistakes like Iraq and Cash for Honors, but there has been a lot of good come out of the last ten years.

    Tony Blair is a great communicator and brilliant at appealing to most social classes. He also has the 'X Factor' in politics which very few others posses. I believe Tony Blair won us the Olympics because he was willing to put himself out, like most other leaders would.

    I know it is popular to knock Blair, and I admit there have been some big mistakes from Tony Blair. However nobody is perfect and I do believe he took decision for the right reasons. I don't believe he is malicious.

    :thumb:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I decided we should stand shoulder to shoulder with our oldest ally, and I did so out of belief," he said of his decision to support America's invasion of Iraq.

    I don't want to be pedantic, but isn't Portugal the oldest ally? You'd think in his valedictory speech he'd try and get things right...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    It reminds me of when Kevin Keegan left Man City. He was in a bit of a state at that point, and everything he tried was ineffectual, so most people wanted him to leave. He made quite a few mistakes, but ultimately, he left the club in a better state than he found it. But then he did spend (and in some cases wasted) a fortune doing it, which the club is now paying for somewhat.

    Just hope Gordon Brown's better than Stuart Pearce. :p
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru

    Just hope Gordon Brown's better than Stuart Pearce. :p

    I wouldn't get your hopes up :D
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    budda wrote: »
    If you are born poor now you are more likely to stay poor than you were under the Tories.


    How has Blair done that though?

    I saw this analysis on the news last night, it was bollocks.

    if you have an initially non-meritocratic society then you open it up to meritocracy as in post-war Britian to some extent. This is then a once and for all change because ability is largely genetic. The statistic that mobility is decreasing makes perfect sense and isn't very much to do with government policy.....
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I don't want to be pedantic, but isn't Portugal the oldest ally? You'd think in his valedictory speech he'd try and get things right...

    :yes: I was thinking that as well. He should have said 'best' instead. Otherwise looks like he's forgotten about the Anglo-Portugese Alliance - I guess it's not of much note these days as we're both NATO and EU members but still..he should of got it right.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Aladdin wrote: »
    On this day war criminal and compulsive liar Tony Blair will step down as Prime Minister.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6639945.stm

    The countdown starts here.

    Shame really, because if one were to ignore his foreign policy and relations he would have made a good PM- not perfect and without faults by any means, but better than many.

    But I for one cannot ignore the disgraceful and criminal actions of this man.

    Good riddance.


    But more importantly, it will be My birthday :D
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I decided we should stand shoulder to shoulder with our oldest ally, and I did so out of belief," he said of his decision to support America's invasion of Iraq.
    Is he trying to say that it is right to support one's closest allies regardless of what they intend to do?

    Quite worrying, that...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    But does anyone think that gordan brown will be any good?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Chance89 wrote: »
    But does anyone think that gordan brown will be any good?

    :no: You might as well replace Tony Blair with a sack of spuds, for all the good Gordon Brown will be.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I think that he's done more good than harm, but when it's harm :eek:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Arguably his biggest legacy (positive legacy that is) could well be bringing the conflict in Northern Ireland to an end.

    He doesn't deserve all the credit there of course- some should go towards the protestant and catholic leaders, and even the last tory government- but it is a monumental achievement nonetheless.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    :yes: I was thinking that as well. He should have said 'best' instead. Otherwise looks like he's forgotten about the Anglo-Portugese Alliance - I guess it's not of much note these days as we're both NATO and EU members but still..he should of got it right.

    Best ally would then be Nepal, Oman or Brunei - Nepal probably pips it because of the Gurkhas.

    US is a our most powerful ally...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Aladdin wrote: »
    Arguably his biggest legacy (positive legacy that is) could well be bringing the conflict in Northern Ireland to an end.

    He doesn't deserve all the credit there of course- some should go towards the protestant and catholic leaders, and even the last tory government- but it is a monumental achievement nonetheless.

    :yes: The fact he left a few days after devolution speaks volumes...

    And to be fair whilst I and many others aren't happy about bits of it (and some quite major bits) due largely to Blair I'll not be flying home to follow as many coffins of friends and family as my parents had to...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    He's done good things, he's done bad things and perhaps maybe should have gone a little earlier... hope Brown can do things right though. I'd much rather see him leading a government than Cameron.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Renzo wrote: »
    I'd much rather see him leading a government than Cameron.

    Thats my issues. I don't trust Cameron so wouldn't vote for him, but on the other hand I don't want to vote for Brown.

    :confused:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    budda wrote: »
    If you are born poor now you are more likely to stay poor than you were under the Tories.

    That's a continuing trend dating back 30 years though, so can't all be blamed solely on Blair. *says him because he did a module on it in economics at a level :p*

    He should have done more to make it better though. Now the rich tend to own several houses which they sublet thanks to low interest rates allowing them to borrow lots, and the poor can only afford to rent because property prices have been inflated by 'investors'. Who might just keep a house empty for months purely on the speculation it will increase in value. There should be laws against it.

    It's akin to going to some deprived part of Africa, buying all the food in the market because you can pay more than everyone else, then just hoarding it and selling bits at a massively overpriced rate because people need it to live, and if some rots oh well.

    Anyway, sorry about the rant. Not sure really what else there is to do though, Britain is becoming a very expensive place to live, and people who don't want to relocate will find that old industrial jobs leave and new service sector jobs come where there is less manpower needed and more qualifications needed.
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