Tony Blair Good or bad ?

Tony is on the way out in the new year and it looks like Gordon taking his seat at the helm of the labour party. What do the members think of Tony Blair. A good prime minister or a disaster area ?

It's quite hard to say yes or no.. but I will go with yes. Despite the fact he'll be remember for the war in Iraq The 2012 Olympics are his legacy though. Without him I doubt we would have got them.

I wouldn't see he was great, but he hasn't been a disaster either. Many people went off him, because of Iraq. In that situation I think it was a case of damned if you do, and damned if you don't. Lisa x

I went off him before Iraq !

Hmmm let me think about this slimey little rodent called Blair...

Gave an oscar winning performance when Diana died !!

Totally made a mess of Norhern Ireland, Mr Blairs famous word "I dont talk to terrorists " Yeah rite he just goes to N Ireland and puts them in government, kiss my ass Blair...

He is a walking toilet roll for George Bush to wipe his ass on...

He is totally false, I cant remember him ever actually sticking to any promise he has ever made....

He has been all the time only interested in his public interest and not interested in the publics interests. Like that we turn of phrase did ya....

So NO Tony Blair has been crap, I cheered the day Thatcher got booted out but when that walking FAKE called Blair gets booted out I am gonna strip naked and run round Belfast with a bottle of Champagne in my hand....

Phewww I am glad I got that off my chest, I may come back later to slag him off some more

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=151931508083111702&q=bush&hl=en

I think this just about sums it up for me.

Heard a good quote about John Howard (the PM of Australia) that could equally apply to TB.

Howard is a 'bonsai' leader - just a little BUSH.

I go with a yes because the economy is strong and the majority are better off now than when he took over, not perfect given some of the foreign policy issues but winning three electionsis no mean feat in itself.

As in many situations I dont think people will realise what a good leader he has been until hes gone (and Im not a labour supporter) !!

Sorry is this thread about Tony Blair or Lionel Blair, I sorta thought it was about Tony ??

His party while his party has reigned has maintained sustained economic growth which at the end of the day is the number one priority. People are better off - its a fact. Theyve also invested in the NHS and slowly are turning things around in that area. Also the minimum wage protects workers. Interest rates and unemployment are low. His party has delivered in key areas - thats why along with his charisma why theyve won 3 elections. I dont think Gordon can match that.

badcompany77 wrote:

Totally made a mess of Norhern Ireland, Mr Blairs famous word "I dont talk to terrorists " Yeah rite he just goes to N Ireland and puts them in government, kiss my ass Blair...

:

At least theres peace now

I guess as with all leaders it depends on the electorates attention span. Many leaders are seen in the short term as being good for the country...and I have to conceed that there are many thhings that have improved, or at least not got worse under TB. Its his longer lasting legacy that we have to consider, this is the man that followed the US against his countries will into the middle east and the repurcussions of that will be sounding off for years.

That said no-one hardly remembers John Major and he sent the boys in first time. People do (and this is no critiscm, just observation) have a short term memory when it comes to politics and do focus on our own everyday home needs rather that foreign issues. on that basis Blair can be seen to have been a success, will until the four minute warning goes off anyway and then he may be remembered for very different reasons.

steerpyke wrote:

this is the man that followed the US against his countries will into the middle east and the repurcussions of that will be sounding off for years.

.

I agree with most of your points Steer but you cannot make this assumption, sure there were some massive rallys against the war but you cannot say it was against the countries will per se, there was a lot of support for the war too !!

you are probably right, support for war always decreases the longer and less successful it goes on and so wars tend to be looked at in hindsight. I wonder how many people, if they were honest have changed from being a supporter of the action to being opposed just because all the questioned illegalities have given them a way out with a little bit of grace.

A huge number I would say. But once Blair took us in, its not that easy to just walk away. He needs to feel we achieved something. If he walked away now we would have achieved very little. I hope for the Iraqis sake more than Blairs that they do achieve the democracy and self governing theyre after but I fear that wont happen in the immediate future. We will probaly be there in some capacity for years yet