How would you rate Tony Blair as a prime minister?
I’ve heard criticism that says he’s more concerned with international affairs than domestic issues, he promises much but doesn’t deliver, he’s too easily swayed by public opinion…any more bad points to add?
What are his best accomplishments? (He was pretty instrumental in getting the Northern Irish Good Friday peace agreement drawn up, wasn’t he? No?)
In your estimation, did most UK citizens think of him favorably before this Iraq business blew up?
No, I didn’t like him before the whole Iraq thing, dislike him even more now.
In our family, everybody things he is “a smarmy git”
We live in a fairly rural area, so a lot of people round here feel as though he doesn’t care about rural issues, esp. after the foot and mouth disease.
And also, Labour was always a working class party, but this “new Labour” only seems to want to please the middle classes. ( although Britain is supposed to be a classless society)
Well, I don’t normally vote labour, but I think I may well do in the next election, just to keep Blair. He’s the best thing to happen to this country in a long, long time.
Intelligent, courageous and effective.
The transport, hospitals, crime rate and economy have all improved under his leadership.
The only thing I’m worried about is the national debt. 23 billion at the moment and he keeps increasing it (although nowhere near as much as Thatcher did). We should really start paying that off!
I’ll have to defer to Eddie Vedder on this one. Experience, education, demonstration of character is lost on me. On the other hand, Snoop Dogg may be available!
I voted for Labour in 1997.
In 2001 I never got round to completing the forms that were necessary to vote from a foreign country.
In the next election I will make damn sure I fill in those forms to vote for the Liberal Democrats.
amanset, how did you feel about him before the Iraq situation became dire?
I’m curious about opinions of his leadership in general, meaning, from the very start of his office onward and in regards to the whole spectrum of domestic issues.
I’m an American and I really like him! I think he’s bright, leans to the left, and I like the fact that he has a global attitude. I only wish Bush did.
Since when has transport improved under New Labour? Or the NHS? The same relentless drive to “privatisation” (which effectively means just putting public money into private pockets) as under the last Conservative administration … the rural economy shattering under new legislation and ineffective disaster control … unions and workers in general marginalized … this is not any sort of Labour party I’m familiar with, and not one I want to keep. Blair is a clever politician, but completely amoral. If we get the chance, we should dump him. These were my views before the current crisis, and they have, if anything, been reinforced. No, I am no fan of Tony Blair.
He looks much better standing next to Bush, that’s for sure.
My impression of his handling of the Iraq situation was that he was “riding the tiger” – the UK could not afford to break the “Special Relationship”, leaving Blair to try and make the US’s dumbass diplomacy work. I’ve actually gained some respect for him over this issue.
OTOH, his blatant control-freak attitude, including the attempts to rig the London Mayor’s election and the jiggery-pokery of the Underground PPP scheme, is extremely annoying. Were I allowed to vote, I’d probably vote Lib Dem (assuming my local Lib Dem candidate wasn’t completely gormless, as so many Lib Dem candidates seem to be).
In the past It seemed to me as if his primary motivation to remain in power was so that he could remain in power. At least now he seems to standing up for something he personally seems to believe in.
I was and remain aganist the war but I can appreciate his point of view and I admire the extents he’s gone to in order to sell it to the British people.
His big test will come when and if he tries to convince Britian to adopt the Euro. I’m tres pro european so if he gets that through I might yet vote for him in the next general election.
Providing the SNP doesn’t sneak away with the up coming Scottish elections of course.