Sorry ITK but I thought it was excellent.
Brought back memories of when I first met him when he was Shadow Home Secretary and said to my friend John Preston whose wife was Blair's PA - "that man will be Prime Minister".

I thought he did ok.

That speech must have been hanging over him for weeks.
He must have been very aware, that whatever he said will go down in history forever, with his name, his political successes and his, not so good successes.

It`s funny how everybody seems to be discussing what job he will do next.

He`s obviously a workaholic, but sitting back and reflecting, would sound like a wise choice from June to me.

JK2006 wrote:
Sorry ITK but I thought it was excellent.
Brought back memories of when I first met him when he was Shadow Home Secretary and said to my friend John Preston whose wife was Blair's PA - "that man will be Prime Minister".

It was a good speech - he's always been a good speaker, but it was still "spun" to try and make something out of nothing !

"Hand on heart [cue - bite bottom lip in phoney show of emotion] I may not have always been right - but I've always lined my own pockets"?.

I totally believe Tony Blair when he says that he always did what he believed to be right. Unfortunately believing that something is right doesn't actually make it right. In my opinion he's got just about everything wrong, but he's always been obliviously lost in his own sincerity.

"obliviously lost in his own sincerity"... I do like that one, Cat

One word can epitomise a premiership for posterity. For Anthony Eden it was "Suez". For Blair, it will be "Iraq".

Reuters are already running the following headlines -

Disillusionment reigns after Blair decade
uk.reuters.com/article/REUTERS_SPECIAL_E...TURE_the_blair_years

Blair accused of Disneyesque US ties

uk.reuters.com/article/REUTERS_SPECIAL_E...TURE_the_blair_years

Cartoonists bid savage goodbye to Bambi Blair

uk.reuters.com/article/reutersEdge/idUKA...TURE_the_blair_years

Blair departs battered
uk.reuters.com/article/idUKL102577062007...TURE_the_blair_years

and from Sky News (once one of his promoters) it's even worse ! The news that he had quit was replaced as the main front page headline after only 2 hours !

Remember the euphoria when John Major got booted?

Could anyone live up to that expectation?

Overall it seems to have been a bit of a non-government, things trundling along much after the Thatcher style of politics.

If only the boy hadn't invaded Iraq - he hasn't done much right or remarkable but he did one very wrong thing.

It is somewhat troubling that he and Bush will simply walk away from the mess they created for somebody else to deal with.

zooloo wrote:

It is somewhat troubling that he and Bush will simply walk away from the mess they created for somebody else to deal with.

zooloo

Nothing to unusual about that. Remember President Johnson? He had to promise NOT to stand for re-election before anyone would believe him (over his plan for Vietnam).

I'm a big believer in Karma .... they will not prosper in the long-run

One Million Dead .... that's quite a legacy

How long before "fond memories" of Blair begin to develop?

zooloo wrote:
How long before "fond memories" of Blair begin to develop?

I don't think they will. Blair is obviously hoping that history will look back kindly on him but history says otherwise.

50 years after Anthony Eden was PM, ask anyone what they remember of him and they will say one word - SUEZ

In 50 years time, ask anyone about Blair and they will also say one word - IRAQ

Furthermore, I think in time people will be evn more bitter. When he said "I did what I thought was right" was he telling the truth at that point either?

If he genuinely believed the things he was saying about Iraq, then wouldn;t a genuine person have tried of convince us of them, instead of working behind the scenes inventing phoney evidence and stealing dodgy dossiers from the internet and pretending that they are "evidence"?

A pretty straight kind of guy?

'hand on heart, i did what i thought was right' is such a non entity of a statement befitting the man who.....said......it...... with pauses and hand gestures to try and convey sincerity.

Hitler thought he was right too.