When Blair hits the door, Britain won't weep

[fushigi]

So Blair's on his way out of the PM's seat in June or July. Will he be remembered kindly?

The answer is a resounding NO for an overwhelming majority of Britons:

The poll of 2,034 adults showed that many people find the country is a more dangerous, less happy and less pleasant place to live. <snip> Only over a quarter rated the government's general performance under Blair as good or very good. <snip> The poll also showed that 57 percent think Blair has stayed in office too long.

Ouch.

So much for his legacy.

[G. Adams]

Blair has presided over the introduction of more pieces of legislation than he has had days in office. Does anyone think that your can introduce more than 2000 laws in 10 years and have them all well crafted and fit for purpose? More importantly, how is this all meant to be enforced? As a citizen, are we supposed to know what is or is not lawful when we have so many new laws?

The failure to give us a referendum on proportional representation as promised in the run up to the 1997 election is scandalous. Getting rid of hereditory peers (mostly Tory's) just to pack the House of Lords with Labour life peers was disgustingly cynical.

[The Decider]

The British are a fickle lot when it comes to their prime ministers. Look what happened to Winston Churchill, the hero of WWII. Clement Atlee defeated Churchill in 1945. Churchill remained in British politics until 1955 and even became PM again, but he wasn't loved. His popularity soared after his death.

I'm not saying that Blair will be another Churchill, although I'm sure he comforts himself at the prospect. The Iraq War is no WWII. And England's domestic situation is different. I don't think history or the British people will treat Blair with the same kindness that it has extended to Churchill.

Blair's once stellar reputation in America has also taken a hit, although I suspect that Americans like Tony more than Britons do. After all, Tony can string together beautiful English sentences. George Jr can barely read "My Pet Goat."

[Matt W]

No, Blair is no Churchill. We just want him to go. He's been in power too long, he's out of touch. Good riddance.

[Canada.Smith.B]

The British are a fickle lot when it comes to their prime ministers

Thats not just the British, a lot of democracies behave in that manner. Good point though, same thing came to mind when I read the thread title.

Any Britons here who are closer to the politics care to forecast the post-Blair era? Labour setbacks, or continued support for the party under a new leader?

[Matt W]

*shrugs* Gordon Brown is the heir-apparent, but it's looking doubtful whether it'll be a particularly smooth transition to him - especially when Blair is refusing point-blank to come out & support him as his successor. Should be an interesting little dogfight - mebbe we'll see the real faces of some of the ministers who have been biding their time.

David Cameron of the Conservatives appears to be the man that the public are enamoured with at the moment - though it's really difficult to predict. Apathy here has sunk deep.

[Canada.Smith.B]

Apathy here has sunk deep.

A fridge full of food will do that to you. :)

[Mozart1220]

He backed up Bush on the Iraq war. That in it's self tells me he's an idiot.

[Canada.Smith.B]

He backed up Bush on the Iraq war

I was puzzled at that position myself. But not being big into British politics I don't know if that is uncharacteristic of New Labour thinking or not.

[G. Adams]

Quote by: Canada.Smith.B I was puzzled at that position myself. But not being big into British politics I don't know if that is uncharacteristic of New Labour thinking or not.

The sycophantic arse licking sure is characteristic of new Labour.

[Wizzle]

I voted other. Some things he has done have been good, such as the minimum wage, which although is still a pittance it's still better than nothing and the conservatives would risk looking as mean-spirited as they really are if they abolished it. He has also increased spending on the NHS and education to a huge extent and forced the hand of the tories, making them commit to similar though slightly lower spending.
On the down side Blair has involved us in Iraq, made a complete hash of devolution and the Lords, pandered to the right-wing press at every given opportunity, passed God knows how many restrictive laws and is trying to force ID cards on us.
Very polarising to someone like me, and I don't want more New Labour. Hopefully after the next general election we'll see a hung parliament with the LibDems holding the balance of power. Fingers crossed.

[G. Adams]

Quote by: Wizzle I voted other. Some things he has done have been good, such as the minimum wage, which although is still a pittance it's still better than nothing and the conservatives would risk looking as mean-spirited as they really are if they abolished it. He has also increased spending on the NHS and education to a huge extent and forced the hand of the tories, making them commit to similar though slightly lower spending. On the down side Blair has involved us in Iraq, made a complete hash of devolution and the Lords, pandered to the right-wing press at every given opportunity, passed God knows how many restrictive laws and is trying to force ID cards on us. Very polarising to someone like me, and I don't want more New Labour. Hopefully after the next general election we'll see a hung parliament with the LibDems holding the balance of power. Fingers crossed.

Hmm, all of your positive reasons are also reasons I very much dislike Blair. Minimum wage driving up inflation, massive spending on the NHS that a) has had little effect in ten years and b) still hasn't given the nurses the pay rise they have been promised for ten years while increasing the pay of doctors and consultants. On education, we're still to see literacy rates improve despite the spending and his government is fiddling the history curriculum to avoid "controversial" subjects (how can fact be controversial in a history lesson?).

The best thing that has happened under the Blair government is the improved situation in Northern Ireland, which was largely down to the efforts of Mo Mowlem, who he promptly sacked.

At least devolution has put us in a position where we might see a referendum on Scottish independance in the future, driven by the SNP. The sooner Scotland is independant, the better for all of us.

[Wizzle]

Inflation is still below 3% so the minimum wage cannot be that bad. Why is it up to the lowest paid to keep inflation down anyway?

As for the NHS, I can speak from personal experience and it is improving greatly in my area. I don't know about yours.

[G. Adams]

Quote by: Wizzle Inflation is still below 3% so the minimum wage cannot be that bad. Why is it up to the lowest paid to keep inflation down anyway? As for the NHS, I can speak from personal experience and it is improving greatly in my area. I don't know about yours.

Inflation would be lower without minimum wage. It's not the end of the world though, I'll agree, which is why I didn't mention it as one of my main reasons for disliking Blair. And it's not "up to the lowest paid to keep inflation down", it's that if you artificially drive up the cost of labour without increasing efficiency, the cost of the product goes up. If this happens across society, inflation is caused. The top level people of companies get pay increases by increasing efficiency, largely, so the cost of the product does not go up, causing no inflation.

As someone with close family members in the NHS, I know that much of the investment is lost in management. "The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of the bureaucracy." I don't believe I should be robbed through taxation to fund such waste. If I fund wastage voluntarily it's fine, but when I am coerced into it I object.

[Osborn F Enready]

I'm not British, but I answered the poll question from my perspective.

[tinybear]

Tony Blair made the same mistake Maggie Thatcher made. He overstayed his welcome. You know what they say: "When ya gotta go, ya gotta go..." Blair would have been remembered more kindly had he stepped down when he was still popular.

[Arawn-ap-Hywel]

Blair has been an Icon of modern western politics ever ready to place some ridiculous spin on his or his friends view points.

It is a travesty and his taking the UK with US into Iraq should be viewed as criminal missmanagement of the unionist power given him by the english