Tony Blair - Philanthropist..

quasi modo · September 4, 2014

Sapie88 said:
I could give you her address, just buy her a kebab and she'll show you everything. Cow.

I don't know her but I did know a girl from Southport called Cat, she used to show me a lot but I never bought her a kebab just munched on hers.

L4Everton · September 4, 2014

quasi modo said:
I don't know her but I did know a girl from Southport called Cat, she used to show me a lot but I never bought her a kebab just munched on hers.

Donna then?

mrs the esk · September 4, 2014

Dell Boy said:
I shook his hand a few times back in that election. It was literally like meeting a superstar at the time. He said some tripe to me about thanking me for all the volunteering and how much he personally appreciated the effort. He looked at you in the eyes and you believed every word.

I was utterly fixated on being a Labour MP at the time. Nothing else mattered. Then I left Uni and entered the real world. Quickly lost touch in the party when I lived in that there London and that was that!

Dell Boy, you should speak to @the esk, he had similar experiences in 97 and also was a Labour Student Leader although earlier than you.

I've met him (Blair not @the esk) a few of times since and he is certainly charismatic, similar to Clinton. When he entered a room you just knew he was there.

Obviously the Iraq War is a very significant blot in his copybook, but as you mentioned there were significant achievements during his leadership, Ireland, Kosovo, the re-building of the health service and the investment in state funded education and the building of new schools.

He has his critics, but I always look back to his last appearance in the House of Commons when upon finishing QT for the last time he received a standing ovation from all sides of the house. Unprecedented scenes, even the Tory opposition recognised his stature.

His final comments were as follows

Mr. Speaker, if I may just finish with two brief remarks—first to the House. I have never pretended to be a great House of Commons man, but I pay the House the greatest compliment I can by saying that, from first to last, I never stopped fearing it. The tingling apprehension that I felt at three minutes to 12 today I felt as much 10 years ago, and every bit as acute. It is in that fear that the respect is contained.

The second thing that I would like to say is about politics and to all my colleagues from different political parties. Some may belittle politics but we who are engaged in it know that it is where people stand tall. Although I know that it has many harsh contentions, it is still the arena that sets the heart beating a little faster. If it is, on occasions, the place of low skulduggery, it is more often the place for the pursuit of noble causes. I wish everyone, friend or foe, well. That is that. The end.

David Cameron said: On behalf of everyone on these Benches, may I congratulate the right hon. Gentleman on his remarkable achievement of being Prime Minister for 10 years. For all the heated battles across the Dispatch Box, for 13 years he has led his party, for 10 years he has led our country, and no one can be in any doubt about the huge efforts he has made in public service. He has considerable achievements to his credit, whether it is peace in Northern Ireland or his work in the developing world, which will endure. I am sure that life in the public eye has sometimes been tough on his family, so on behalf of my party may I wish him and his family well, and wish him every success in whatever he does in future.

Dell Boy · September 4, 2014

Being Irish I could never support the Tories. The Lib Dems always seemed a waste of time. I drifted into labour as a kid but first John Smith then Blair inspired me to think you could help inspire change.

I honestly believe Blair thought there were weapons of mass destruction. I believe 90% of the then government did.

I also believe it was right to go into Iraq. I'd like the international community to be much more proactive generally.

L4Everton · September 4, 2014

Doesn't back slapping and grandstanding on both accounts highlight how insular, how self aggrandising, how utterly false then entire schism is at its core.

magicjuan · September 4, 2014

Lets be honest, his legacy is the blood on his hands and the decimation of the Labour party.

all this statesman stuff is guff, he had a personal agenda, spun to give off an impression of caring, but the reality was he always had that mea culpa thinking in the back of his mind. If you cannot connect the faith element to the man then you don't get his raison d'etre.

There's a reason the Private Eye portray him as a vicar. More like a bloodlust fuelled crusading Pope.

Dell Boy · September 4, 2014

L4Everton said:
Doesn't back slapping and grandstanding on both accounts highlight how insular, how self aggrandising, how utterly false then entire schism is at its core.

No. They are human failings. I was into labour at Uni in Manchester and my local MP was a world away from that new labour breed so I can't comment but - from the outside it seemed like that was a group culture that took on a life of its own rather than being something true and organic.

The new labour mob entered a void in British politics left after Thatcher. Kinnock merely cleared the decks of the Labour Party. In the run up of 96 and 97 and then until at least 99 when I stepped away it was like a cult of its own.

L4Everton · September 4, 2014

And the first person he had round for tea and scones when he moved into number 10 was none other than Mags. Picturing the moment in my mind I see Idi Amin high fiving Pol Pot.