Blair The Inside Story | Complete BBC Documentary 2007

A three part documentary on Tony Blair.
Episode 1: The New Leader
The first programme examines how Tony Blair came to power on a huge wave of public goodwill, as the Tories were swept out of office on a tide of sleaze and incompetence.
With a blazing sense of mission, the new prime minister promised his government would be purer than purer, and that he would transform Britain and make the world a better place.
Those who have been closest to Blair reveal in the programme how he responded to the many challenges and crises that face a modern prime minister, and how his early years in office taught him a number of painful lessons about the gap between spin and substance.
59:04 - Episode 2: A Man With A Mission
The second programme tells the inside story of Tony Blair’s wars.
It includes a remarkable speech that Blair made in his first month as prime minister, proclaiming his could be the first generation where not a single British soldier was sent to war.
Yet in his first six years at Number 10, Blair ordered British troops into battle a record number of five times. Michael Cockerell reveals the reasons why.
He shows how the prime minister developed his radical new doctrine of the moral case for intervening by force against evil across the whole world.
Interviews with the people closest to Blair cast new light on his burning sense of personal mission. And key Downing Street insiders talk for the first time about the effect of Blair’s Christian beliefs on his policy.
The programme also shows how the prime minister was able to transfer his allegiance from President Clinton - whom he had strongly supported throughout the Monica Lewinsky affair - to the Neo-Conservative George W Bush.
And how it was that Blair gave his unstinting support to Bush for the invasion of Iraq, which has done such damage to the prime minister’s reputation.
1:57:47 - Episode 3: The End of The Affair
The final part of Michael Cockerell’s acclaimed series tells the story of Tony Blair’s final years in office.
It is a period dominated by a range of crises: Blair’s heart problems, his troubles with Gordon Brown, the aftermath of the war in Iraq, the plots to overthrow him, cash for honours allegations and endless questions about when he would leave Number 10.
Cockerell explained: “Tony Blair’s time at the top has been a compelling political psycho-drama. His decade-long relationship with the British people has been a bitter-sweet affair.
“And as it comes to an end, our programme will be attempting a first assessment of the Blair legacy and his place in history.”

[@SlicedThickBread]

'Blair was coming to power just as the Tories were swept from office, on a tide of sleaze and incompitence.' Litterally nothing has changed in 26 years.

[@kerryflote1283]

Just before. Blair became leader after the death of John Smith, who had sown the seeds of the Tories' demise. Blair became PM after the General Election. He became leader of the Labour party in the run-up to that election. See my comment above.

[@jamietherooster]

yep, sleaze and incompetence being replaced by better disguised sleaze and incompetence, with the help of the media. And the next phase in the total destruction of Britain. Reasons to be cheerful

[@craw.54]

Labour were no different.

[@kerryflote1283]

@@craw.54 Oh, I think you'll find that Labour sleaze is on the level of nicking someone's lunch money compared to contracts for HS2, PPE, private health care companies being awarded NHS contracts,privatizing water, gas, electricity etc., etc,......

[@jeromefitzroy]

Stop voting for conservatives

[@BibinBCherian]

I just love such long-form documentaries.

[@Sir_Typesalot]

His legacy? - A plethora of disasters in the Middle East and Central Asia, a list of war crimes, crimes against humanity… to quote the late Christopher Hitchens: „One page shorter than Henry Kissinger.“ And that says everything.

[@NorthSon]

Economy and social mobility were vastly better during his era though.

[@j.weeler]

Thank you for uploading this amazing content ❤

[@jocktigernuts680]

Ask Katharine Gunn what she thinks about Blair and why he didn’t do time!!

[@alans.2735]

RIP Dr David Kelly - a good man hounded to his death.

[@annenunney9907]

You are so right

[@safa4786]

Most probably murdered by Mi6...they wanted the war...and a million civilians died as a result.

[@troy5586]

‘A vision of Britain in the 21st century’ Indeed.

[@Lucy0809]

He should be in prison

[@fuckboi_killa]

War criminals haven't gotten theirs since Nuremberg :(

[@locoHAWAIIANkane]

Wow! The casting director for the movie “The Queen” did an amazing job!! I couldn’t tell if Mr Blair’s wife was the actress in the movie or if it really was his wife.

[@daveclarke6481]

The comment by Alan Johnson @ 4.07 explains a great deal about New Labour.

[@fahmyayoob5775]

GEORGE BUSH'S LITTLE POODLE LAP DOG.

[@fahmyayoob5775]

@@michelel.tolley3156 no offence intended

[@soloperformer5598]

An example of INSINCERITY at its finest.

[@muhammadmustafa2946]

Great documentary. Highlights the pain of Iraq

[@alextettenborn269]

Any leader would give their left leg for the advantage Tony Blair enjoyed in 97. Cusp of an economic boom, lunatic majority, totally discredited and enfeebled opposition (both from the left and the right ) had a mandate to do pretty much anything he wanted State of the Tory party will likely see KS enter Downing Street within 12 months but he'll enjoy none of these advantages. Economically in particular the situations are stratospheres apart

[@kev897]

And he blew it all. The country sufferred all the pain with the economy to get to that position. Instead of blair building on that he blew it. He gave it all away. His mass uncontrolled migration that he unleashed on the UK. Along with his refusal to allow us the referendum on this new version of the EU that every other EU member state got to have demonstrated what a shyster he was

[@JustAThought155]

I was in Ireland during the spring of 97 and England when the news of Princess Diana’s death unfolded. During that time, Blair’s public esteem was evident. However, I returned to America and became very busy. Before I knew it, whenever I heard of Tony Blair his name was associated with negative connotations, sadly. I did not know what happened, but whatever happened, it happened swiftly despite his long stay in office.

[@robbibittybob20]

Iraq

[@JohnSmith-tz8jj]

If Blair had accepted that he got Iraq decision wrong and said it out to the people, I think his legacy would have been a much different one. Whereas, now all his achievements will forever remain overshadowed by that one decision. He perhaps wanted to restore the British clout and influence at the international stage, but went about it the wrong way; underestimated just how ruthless the American war industry is; and in the process diminished the international stature of the UK to 'America's obedient'.

[@beickus]

so by saying you were wrong thats it everythings fine?

[@JohnSmith-tz8jj]

@@beickus Nobody can rewrite history; wrong was done and it would stay that way. The point is that he could have chosen to be honest in his assessment of the effect his decision had domestically and internationally, not only to the Labour Party, his personal reputation, but also to the reputation of the Country. In it's absence, we now come across, to anyone who has an interest in history, a country that refuses to accept it's responsibility at a global stage.

[@qnelson1000]

Nothing will overshadow the Good Friday agreement. Tony managed to get individuals who despised each other to not only sit at the same table, but to forge a peace agreement. Nothing will tarnish ending the Troubles.

[@matthewstokes1608]

His voice alone and his smiling face makes me vomit. He is grotesque

[@beickus]

@@qnelson1000 Troubles were a local issue whereas "war on terror" a global one. Did well on smaller things, screwed major ones - that is he was arrogant thought too much of himself and ruined the world.

[@kerryflote1283]

Oh dear. You missed the bit in the Doric Tavern, Edinburgh, where Blair, Brown, Robin Cook, and the Gannet (Donald Dewar) met after the death of John Smith to hash out a deal whereby the various factions of the Labour Party in Scotland would support Blair as leader of the party if, in the wholly expected Labour victory in the next General Election: 1. Legislation was proposed for a devolved Scottish Parliament, with the party's backing of Dewar as First Minister;2.. Brown was Chancellor; 3. Robin Cook, or another Scottish MP, became Foreign Secretary; 4. Blair agreed to a limited term as PM (not specified) and gave his support for Brown as his successor. I was there. I heard it. I saw Brown leave in a huff after Blair rejected Brown's insistence that Blair stepped down after two terms as PM.

[@andys2856]

Seriously you were there?

[@kerryflote1283]

@@andys2856Indeed. Just off a train from London.

[@randomtux1234]

never trusted that permanently smug smile

[@krisburgess2857]

Me to that smug fake smile of a war criminal that is who Tony Blair is a lying war criminal

[@faisalatcha1783]

Blair The War Criminal

[@blehoo1]

BS

[@johnardygoh6245]

Agreed

[@louisbeerreviews8964]

@@blehoo1its not bs and it’s true

[@maryfenton958]

Still wanting the limelight with his rictus grin in place. Starter is getting advice from him now… I ask you!

[@richardshiggins704]

All political careers end in failure . Downing St should be seen as the street of sighs . What was quite evident in this excellent documentary was how inept and inarticulate Bush Jnr. really was .

[@BossySwan]

1:04:09 steady on there Bill

[@mattsymonds9652]

Wonder if Liz Truss has her portrait on the wall in Downing Street with all the other PM's ?

[@charlesburgoyne-probyn6044]

Presumably does

[@jenniferholden9397]

Please can someone explain to me what Sadam Hussain had to do with 9/11?

[@christopherh5672]

Nothing they wanted oil and control

[@edwardodonnell6857]

I cannot deny he is a very intelligent charismatic man convincing also there you go if you want the power wealth the grief comes with it.

[@JohnAdams-kc8wx]

An actor first and foremost

[@annenunney9907]

We were so thrilled at the time but he wasted 3 terms he could have done so much and he did not pity

[@lucytomlin2811]

0:58

[@lynclarke6184]

He’s still there lurking in the shadows. A thoroughly bad lot.

[@aidansmyth6480]

I was once in a room with Blair. It was in the Middle East. Blair had just set up his Foundation. In staggered a clearly very drunk and elderly sheik who all but fell into his seat. Blair opened his speech by lauding for 10 minutes or more this tired, immensely privileged old man who clearly had no idea where he was. I often wondered what the size of the subsequent cheque to the foundation was.

[@leeshepherd6512]

It’s called diplomacy. Try get your thick skull around it.

[@aidansmyth6480]

@@leeshepherd6512 I think you meant, 'Try to get/getting your thick skull around it'.

[@leeshepherd6512]

@@aidansmyth6480 I was once in a room with Thatcher. She basically did an auction and sold all of our assets off and made her vile pos of a a son incredibly rich. I often wonder how big her cheque was…

[@BossySwan]

Sheikh Andvac put the freshness back

[@matthewstokes1608]

Mandlesssssson …. Sicko

[@BibinBCherian]

I remember the 2003 London protests against the Iraq war - it was my first experience that democracy is mostly a sham. Of course I was young and naive then.

[@philiphearn9297]

Just because a protest has a lot of people there it doesn't necessarily mean that they are representative of the population. In 2003 on average from YouGov polls 54% of the population said that the military action was right. Interestingly a poll done in 2015 shows that peoples recollection shows a much lower level of support in 2003 and a much lower of people supported it looking back. I suspect that would be even lower now. I was only 18 back in 2003 but admit that I supported the war then but now look back and admit I was wrong. Probably not for the same reasons that a lot of the protestors disagreed with the war but because in retrospect the military action was counterproductive, sometimes it is better the devil you know, it was naïve to think that a democracy would emerge in Iraq and the costs in lives and money were exorbitant. There is also the reality that when you get involved in something, for better or worse, you become responsible for anything that goes wrong.

[@iap-ug3oy]

I never liked him .I never knew why but I didn’t, and the same for his wife..my mother and father were both hard working people and my mother always voted Labour ,strangely enough my farther never did ,and I never did when I became old enough to vote….As for his wife I will never forget the disrespect she showed to the Queen. .. Diana I am sure she was a nice person but one thing is for sure she should have never married Charles ..she was far to young to deal with the pressure…..Let’s face it both he and his wife never liked the Royal family …He loved the limelight and I know what I am talking about because I spent my younger years in show bussiness……..

[@blehoo1]

Kosovo and Northern Ireland - serious achievements for TB. Sad that both are forgotten. Those moral victories were what motivated the decision to invade Iraq in the aftermath of 9/11. If only the West had stayed the distance there and won the peace instead of deserting that country and leaving it to anarchy. Having said that with the religious split between sunnis and shia and the Saudis and Iran pulling strings for each side in the background it was always going to be huge ask.

[@astalagriotte]

Spot on!

[@kev897]

Northern Ireland was not an achievement of TB. The disaster that he created with NI. Was off of the back of maggie thatcher forcing the IRA to come begging to stop the conflict. It was Blair that total and utter fool that he was that rolled over to everything that the IRA wanted. And the IRA today boast and bragg about it.

[@BossySwan]

Exactly

[@lynclarke6184]

The peace agreement in Nothern Ireland was designed and orchestrated by Mo Molem but Blair took the credit. A shameless man.

[@safa4786]

That war resulted in chaos on a scale never seen before. The immigrant crisis is a direct result, and we will feel the effects for generations.

[@edwardodonnell6857]

Tony got everything New just left me with a lot of Labour.

[@charlesburgoyne-probyn6044]

Just pure evil

[@richardhunter214]

The problem with the Blair era was we thought we were all having a good time when we weren’t

[@johnny1897]

pls expound

[@BossySwan]

A boom built on cheap credit and illusion

[@Zack-pb9nk]

How the mighty have fallen.. Call me Dave, May, Boris &Sunak Mr no balls…

[@garryharriman7349]

'New Labour meant No Labour!

[@jamesoneill6712]

I’ve never seen an interview with Clare Short where she isn’t talking about Blair being awful. The woman is bloody obsessed.

[@anglodoomer5995]

She’s right though isn’t she

[@geraldoloughlin8307]

No she's not right. I think he was, when all is said and done, one of the best PMs in my life time so far...better than any Tory one. That's for sure. He was smart. He could talk in an accessible way. And he was likable. And he brought a relative peace to Northern Ireland. The Tories never achieved any of that.

[@flachi32]

​@@geraldoloughlin8307he absolutely ruined Britain, with his constitutional reforms, killing socialism and opening borders to all and sundry. His one achievement is his minor role in the good Friday agreement. Horrible human being which you sense in this documentary.

[@geraldoloughlin8307]

@flachi32 his constitutional reforms made England more attractive to the REST of the UK. He made it less self righteous and more inclined to work with others for the future. And he worked HARD to get peace. It wouldn't exist without him. He was willing to talk to people the tories and loyalists in Northern Ireland REFUSED to up to that point. He didn't suck up to the DUP. so whatever you think of him he's a hero to me. One of the best in my time. Not perfect... but none of them are.

[@michaelcrump6192]

Good Point. I remember her well . Nauseating Woman. Without Blair’s Patronage she would never have ended up anywhere near meaningful Public Office . Putting her in one in the first place IS something I would criticise Mr Blair for !!!!!!!!! Claire Short would have been perfectly at home in a Government run by Jeremy Corbyn. Having rewatched this again after many years Mr Blair was also Spot On about Ken Livingstone. Part of the slippery slope that’s led us now to having Our Capital City run by Sadiq Khan was Red Ken !!!!! Claire Short & Red Ken . Personifications of why The Labour Party was unelectable as a Government for This Country for so long between 1979 and 1997 BOTH OF THEM. Mind U NOT The Only Ones Then Or Now. I wouldn’t have let either one of them run my bath years ago never mind My Country. The Same Principle applies to their acolytes now !!!!!!!!!

[@jasonkingshott2971]

Looks like Blair's finger prints have been discovered on the Post Office Scandal, now that's a surprise.

[@damiencrowley2506]

Boy were we let down, all that hope for nothing. In hindsight the Tories of the 90s werent as bad as we thought when we look at the irreparable mess New Labour caused.

[@brucemclennan9715]

The problem with essentially a two-party system is that they always seem to put the party first. At least in the case of labour, you often hear the phrase: what’s good for the party and the country. When you’re in power, it’s the country n’est-ce pas?

[@LOGOS422]

Blair was a good British PM until he made the fatal Iraq error.

[@goosex3644]

It all started at teeside airport 😮

[@TheCurlzKid]

2:35:12

[@nickbonney4349]

Child killer. Should be on trial for war crimes

[@rodgerhargoon3402]

Just watching him smile makes me puke... ...satan the devil himself....

[@kev897]

As should the likes of Corbyn for supporting the terrorist murderers of Innocent British men and women

[@cathwilliams2976]

I shook Tony blairs hand once, my dad wouldn't let me in the house. 😂

[@lee111000]

The Inside Story BBC ,that will be true then

[@user-bl2lu2nx2u]

😂B. B. C.?. Truth?. Really. 😂😂

[@johnniethepom7545]

He certainly ' liked ' Mrs Wendy Murdoch .

[@dagr382]

He also 'liked' the Lord Mandelslime.

[@johnniethepom7545]

@dagr382 There's nothing anyone could tell me about that odious creature , however sly , revolting or deviant , that I would be disinclined to believe .

[@BibinBCherian]

Except the Iraq mistake (for which he probably saw no other alternative for Britain than allying with the US), Blair will probably be the best Labour PM in our lifetime. The key is to move to the centre re economic policy like Clinton.

[@philiphearn9297]

Overall a very good documentary. Shame that Michael Cockerell felt the need to so overtly make his views on the Iraq war so evident to the viewer. Would have been better if he stayed an impartial observer on this like he did for the other contents of the documentary and allowed the viewer to make up their mind.

[@green856w]

I'll always remember him for the PFI disaster and the even more disastrous wars that he took this country into. He was a con man, and still is. God loves Miranda.

[@freddiesmith7821]

How come he doesn't have a Scottish accent if he was born in Edinburgh?

[@BossySwan]

Sunrises be like 4:31

[@andypandy9013]

03:40 "Blair was coming to power just as the Tories were swept from office on a tide of sleaze and incompetence". It is time, 27 years later, to do that again. 😠

[@martinwilliamdavies7977]

The instigator of the zero hour contract, I had one under his government. Turn up for A day's work and get told No work today, now F#ck off, see you tomorrow maybe.Okay see you then. I did better financially under Mr Cameron of all people.

[@jasonkingshott2971]

The most disliked ex UK PM in modern history.

[@jasonkingshott2971]

@@rhyshiggon5899 Like Thatcher or loathe her, sounds like you need to do some research.

[@jasonkingshott2971]

@@rhyshiggon5899 Sadly for you, you are mistaken.

[@jeanlambert342]

😂 Give me Blair every day,as a. Conservative,he made politics popular,the world loved this young, articulate good looking young man,even royalty,and the MP,, were so engaged, what have today,a disaster Government, where no one voted for this non English man

[@jasonkingshott2971]

@@jeanlambert342 ....and then it all went wrong,. God bless Dr Kelly.

[@leeshepherd6512]

Thatcher was clearly the most hated PM in history. Unfortunately you’ve bought the right wing narrative like a good little gammon. Pathetic thing.

[@andreaziz5499]

Bush-cheyne -Blair comitted the huge blunders

[@prettypurple7175]

MAKING A KI$$$LLING//////

[@anatolyyurkin6635]

01:30:31 зачем показывать "страшного" Саддам, если Джек Стро признал, что целью компании было не свержение правительства Ирака? А кадры с принцем за пулемётом? 01:37:55 вот о ком надо было снимать фильм: важен как и жена в фильме Полански Призрак! 9 years to 2003, Peter worked as a strategist and speechwriter to the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair. Ждём про гибель Дэвида Келли! Дело было так. Ещё Клинтон консультировался с Шираком насчёт Афганистана и Ирака. Ширак выступил против. На него организовали покушение в 2000 году горящим Конкордом в качестве мести. 01:52:12 4 сентября 2003 года 02:11:50 20 октября 2003 Блэр госпитализирован из-за аритмии Так я не понял! Весь фильм не было в кадре эксперта Алистера Кэмпбелла? 02:34:07 Африка сфера влияния Франции! В 2003 году Ширак и Франция не поддержали военную авантюру НАТО в Ираке!

[@rickoneillable]

1:13:54 sure, he saved 10,000's of lives at that time, but then a few years later he 100,000's in Iraq...

[@missmurrydesign7115]

Delicious...

[@tonyblosse3855]

Blair on disc

[@ShirleyZhang-bt4dj]

Teflon Tony.

[@paulfrancis3237]

Started as a disgusting politician .. became a disgusting grifter.

[@BossySwan]

Tory Bear

[@WamuyuGatheru]

Traditional media has a pechant for the negative - failures, disasters etc. This starts with all Tony's problems and little of his achievements that last to date. That's why the world is switching off

[@reuben8140]

Iraq barely mentioned in the first hour?

[@theresapierce3934]

He is the reason Britain is in the state that it is.

[@smellmyphart]

I don’t think so considering interest rates were much lower, tax burden and inflation were lower, NHS waiting lists were shorter and there were fewer strikes, Britain was far more influential on the international stage and there were 240k hospital beds in 2000. Now there are 157k. How do you lose almost 80k hospital beds?!?! Britain’s economy was in a far better state when he was in when compared to 2010-2016 and our economy post-Brexit. How can you possibly think he is to blame for modern current politics

[@joeyhussell2924]

I hope you're either too young to vote or not a British citizen cos God forbid people like you are allowed to vote

[@user-bl2lu2nx2u]

😂he. Opened .the. Gates. To. The. Barbarian s.. Britain. Is. Suffering 😂😢😢

[@janeburke147]

He flooded the country,so evil

[@annenunney9907]

No it is not the fault lies with the tories it started with thatcher and since 2010 it has got worse

[@jamiemacdonald9030]

Bill Clinton no one else to lie to.. Christopher hitchens

[@anatolyyurkin6635]

15:37 габитус Макрона? Ротшильды так подбирают? 18:40 тайная встреча Тони Блэра и Берни Экклстоуна была посвящена снятию запрета на рекламу табака для Ф1! 52:054 12 сентября 2000 года 01:05:45 Югославия - второй Суэцкий канал? Судя по логике этого фильма! 01:11:06 мастера: есть чему поучиться у британцев! 01:12:17 затылком к незашторенному окну? Это комедия? Клиент Джеффри Эпштейна! А где про развод Мёрдока с Венди Денг? С осени 2011 года консультант коррупционера Назарбаева! 01:14:20 10 июня 2000 года 01:23:50 11 сентября 2000 после благостного визита Блэра к Бушу? Блэр гениальный актёр? 01:26:28 Блэр летал на запрещённом Конкорде? 27 лет Конкорд попирал гегемонию американских „Боингов“. И после закрытия Конкорда именно Боингякобы влетают в БТЦ? Рукотворная "катастрофа" Конкорда могла быть покушением на самолёт президента Франции Жака Ширака. А дальше - подлодка Курс и 11.09.11? 01:29:58 Июль 2002

[@prettypurple7175]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@genewest8426]

Tony is a.war criminal

[@johnsmith-rs2vk]

Blair !

[@QPRTokyo]

Blair the traitor to the UK.

[@WORLD8NSH5KNIGHT1]

@QPRTokyo - How was he a traitor exactly?

[@dlamiss]

Certainly made immigration happen

[@tommarshall3365]

Those fools who ousted him...they haven’t won a GE since 😂

[@jamietherooster]

They haven't won one since BECAUSE of him. Fortunately this time, left wing corruption is so deep that they don't need to win, the tories have already lost.

[@magikclown]

You mean the electorate

[@historiamilitaris5161]

@@magikclownMr Blar resigned, he did not loose the election, the same for example for Mrs Thatcher

[@james09995]

@@magikclown no, they're the morons

[@thomashowe1509]

⁠@@magikclownBlair never lost an election as PM, but the point is once Labours parliamentary party forced him out they’ve struggled to win anything ever since, or have a coherent identity that people can take seriously.

[@denzel9086]

Awful prime minister.

[@andys2856]

I loved the confidence and charisma of blair. Just a pity things went so downhill for him

[@jeanlambert342]

Look at the rubbish we have at the moment,all om experienced, with ambitious school boy running an English country, time they removed,

[@james09995]

True enough but you want to replace them with whom`?????,Please tell me that you don't mean the imbeciles in Labour?

[@annenunney9907]

The dome is alright now it took time to get going

[@TheTristanmarcus]

There was, yes, a miniscule glimmer of cultural awareness in the first Blair administration but, unlike, say, the 1780's, or the 1910's or even the 1960's, it was more a 'licence to shill' rather than a 'licence to thrill' 😊 But compared with following 'governments' of barbaric morons, it seemed almost like an oasis (no pun intended 😞) And the Millennium Dome is a great example - why not an exciting design by someone like Hadid, using space in a new way, than yet another dome (a very old technology) 😢#makethetorieshistory

[@davidjonmoxleyskipp230]

Make labour history too. Both scum.

[@BossySwan]

Ken Livingdome

[@silversteel6312]

We get the politics we deserve. Look inwards before we condemn politicians for not caring us enough, for not funding the NHS adequately and public services. We, the masses dictate policy. Politicians are merely the conduit.

[@ralphsimpson5230]

To be absolutely fair to Blair, he always was a two faced lying git.

[@r.rachid9631]

This G. Bush's pooddle is perhaps the most detestable politician in UK history? Makes me puke !

[@benarcher7411]

War criminal

[@juliangiulio3147]

The presenter and maker of this programme seems to see Blair's OK and not Ok sides both -almost simultaneously. And how marked they are: - a genuinely nice, caring, sensitive, sincere chap who has a lot of intelligence and ability to communicate; we saw him as genuinely quite cool and representative of most of us human beings - who is able to come across and present his cases in a fair-enough way. He was also quite progressive and we knew he was not sexist, nor racist; etc...; in all this, there is no problem. And there is the cold, ruthless guy who either consciously or unconsciously relies on some deceptive factor ; where the acting is him but we don't now how genuine he is underneath it all (if at all!) His Christianity similarly seems both genuine, sincere and humble; and part of his spiritual ego! I am much More Left / Green than Blair but -unlike most of my friends at the time, quite liked him -had a real soft spot for him -until after the debacle of the Iraq war! If he had only put all his zeal against 'Saddam'- and trying to 'democratise' the Middle East into fighting the climate crisis then. But he would not have been popular, would he! Starmer seems to be imitating him partly, but is without the charismatic, persuasive talents of Mr. Blair that is not going to be good. One needs to be oneself if one is going to do really well! i.e. he seems to be imitating Blair's movements always to the right to please and court the Ring Wing media -which is the biggest evil preventing our much freer democracy in the UK! (If you are from another country where certain freedoms and standards of life are much ore curtailed than here, we could still do so much Better!)

[@james09995]

The "right wing media"...are you for real? "Climate crisis" is a bigger hoax than WMD....just because every leftist thinks it's man made doesn't mean we have to give up a way of life that is the only way that can sustain the population of the planet....what climate crisis means to you and all the other eco-warriors is that someone must pay, just not you.....by definition the climate crisis you speak of cannot be solved "decarbonising society".....that is simply scientifically impossible...therefore someone must pay either by loosing their aspirations to the lifestyle we enjoy here in the west of the West must simply come to a shuddering halt". Nothing has disproved that climate is a) self-regulating and/b) cyclical on a planet that has not completed a single galactic orbit since the dinosaurs roamed. Madness.

[@user-bl2lu2nx2u]

A. British. Clinton. Wives. Interchangeable 😢😢😂😂😂😂😮😮

[@syedadeelhussain2691]

I still believe Tony understood the dynamics of an open society and an open economy much better than other Socialist Heavyweights of the past. He was unique because he appreciated how the markets helped create value and clear through price discovery. Blair and Brown ended the boom-bust cycles for ten years, hence, we can say his period in number 10 was fairly decent minus the Iraq War.

[@AuditorInvestor]

Agreed, it was a good period minus the Iraq war. The key was his appreciation of the benefits of free markets.

[@lewis123417]

Except for the bust period in 2008 😂

[@aclark903]

No, I don’t think so. Blair & co eroded free speech in Britain with extensive new hate speech laws which still bother us today. It’s true the internet wasn’t much of a thing in Britain til after Blair gained power, but nobody would have been prosecuted for a mean tweet under Major anyway.

[@BossySwan]

Third Way

[@MrVorpalsword]

the frequency of the boom bust cycle is longer than ten years

[@johnathandaviddunster38]

A traitor

[@tonyblosse3855]

Blair Treason

[@WORLD8NSH5KNIGHT1]

The Blair Government made some serious mistakes - in domestic policies, increased use of 'Big Brother' - ID cards was a foolish idea and in foreign policy, Iraq was a disaster, though ousting a brutal dictator in itself was not a bad thing But no one can deny Tony Blair had a massive influence on British politics and public life. And there were good policies too. I am tired of people churning out lazy soundbites without backing it up - he was a 'traitor' (how?). I consider Blair an above-average PM. And one of the few that define an era. You can't just dismiss a 10 year premiership in a few words The Right dislike his closeness to Europe. The left thing he was a closet-Tory but the Corbyn experiment shows this country does not want a leader with a hard left worldview. Blair, Brown and other New Labour figures HAD to move Labour to the centre to be electable. People conveniently forget that even after Iraq, Blair won an historic third term for Labour. I acknowledge he was a highly controversial figure but I also consider him a great statesman.

[@blehoo1]

agree

[@tonyblosse3855]

Good Friday agreement had a flaw The consultation of Ireland 🇮🇪 I signed it on the agreement to bring it back to be altered If not you will go mad

[@tonyblosse3855]

Diana wasn’t a princess she was my Queen Not camalia

[@MrVorpalsword]

I voted for Blair, I was in the march against the Iraq War and have found it profoundly difficult to vote Labour again. But if Gordon Brown were able to focus on the image in his mirror should have known he was unlikeable and unelectable .... the arrogance of Brown, that of a self-righteous technocrat (son of the manse) had been evident for years judging by his mannerisms, bragging stupidly while delivering his budget, shyness and facial ticks. What a pillock.

[@anthonystratton9927]

This man should be tried for war crimes as the late archbishop of Cape Town Desmond tutu said he should face trial for war crimes in The Hague

[@jibjobjobe]

Bliar's Britain was such a depressing time for most people that they'd rather not be reminded of it!

[@user-xq3lv3pd2h]

Completely untrue. After the greed corruption and repression of Thatcherism and Majors decline into recession and scandal, Blairs government was a time of joy, until the disaster at the end.

[@user-xq3lv3pd2h]

Not to even mention the eleven years of mass long term unemployment three million plus for much of the time. The destruction of industry and the syphoning off, of the oil and gas revenue by the privatised oil companies to make billions for themselves and their shareholders. Selling off nationalised companies for the same reason. The destruction of public housing which was the first step towards todays housing and rent crisis. Thatcherism was a time of misery for most of the country and total greed for the top echelon. The country is still suffering because of those Tory years, even now.

[@annenunney9907]

Not as depressing as now

[@EasyTiger.01343]

Clare Short? Remind me again of her long list of achievements...

[@BossySwan]

The list is Short

[@joolsa6710]

Is it possible he's insane and really believes what he's saying?

[@saxonloganbyo]

CIA plant