Tony Blair

Tony Blair at a Labour Party meeting in 2005.

Tony Blair (born 6th May 1953), as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007, perhaps earned a reputation as one of the most controversial holders of Britain's highest political office. Internationally, he was best known for supporting a much-opposed US-led war in Iraq, the repercussions of which are ongoing in the Middle East and the wider world. Domestically, his legacy included the abolition of the commitment to state ownership of major industries as a fundamental tenet of his ('New') Labour Party, devolved government in Wales and Scotland, and a continuation of the work of his predecessors and other governments and parties to bring about an end to the conflict in Northern Ireland. He currently serves as a Middle East envoy, working to bring about a 'two-state' solution to the conflict over Israel and Palestine.

Current career

Anthony Charles Lynton Blair's experience as a prime minister might have made him an uncontroversial choice for a Middle East envoy, were he not also one of the main architects of the Iraq War. His appointment by the 'Quartet' of the USA, the United Nations, Russia and the European Union was welcomed by Israel and broadly by the Palestinian Authority, but opposed by the Hamas terrorist organisation currently controlling the Gaza Strip. His official role is to work with the Palestinian people to develop the infrastructure and the economy, with the goal of creating a Palestinian state.

Leader of the Labour Party, 1994-2007

Clause IV and 'New Labour'

Tony Blair was elected as the Leader of the Labour Party in July 1994 after the sudden death of his predecessor, John Smith. He believed that for the Labour party to regain power, it had to abandon some of its traditional policies. In 1995, he persuaded the party at its annual Conference to amend its constitution. In particular, the Conference voted to replace Clause IV of its constitution, which declared that one of the aims of the party was To secure for the workers by hand or by brain the full fruits of their industry and the most equitable distribution thereof that may be possible upon the basis of the common ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange, and the best obtainable system of popular administration and control of each industry or service.

The new version reads

The Labour Party is a democratic socialist party. It believes that by the strength of our common endeavour we achieve more than we achieve alone, so as to create for each of us the means to realise our true potential and for all of us a community in which power, wealth and opportunity are in the hands of the many, not the few. Where the rights we enjoy reflect the duties we owe. And where we live together, freely, in a spirit of solidarity, tolerance and respect.

The original clause, drafted by Sidney Webb, had been adopted by the party in 1918. The redrafting marked a radical break with traditional policies, and marked the emergence of what Tony Blair called “New Labour.” The commitment to nationalisation, even though it was widely regarded as rhetoric without practical intent, was widely seen as a major factor in the electoral unpopularity of the Labour party. The Conservative party had won four successive general elections (in 1997, 1983 and 1987 under Margaret Thatcher and in 1992 under John Major), and Labour was by some seen as unelectable while it retained close links with the Trade Union movement and while it espoused the rhetoric of pre-war socialism. Tony Blair thus set out to reassure a country in which, after the years of Thatcher’s government, there had been a wide increase in property ownership, a widening of share ownership, and a marked weakening of Union membership. The Conservative government’s drive to maintain low taxes had led to rising dissatisfaction with the level of investment in public services, particularly in education and health, and Tony Blair exploited this dissatisfaction and the increasing unease about sleaze and complacency within the Conservative government.

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1997-2007

First term in office, 1997-2005

Tony Blair’s party won a landslide victory in the 1997 general election. Labour gained 418 seats, the Conservatives just 165; Labour had a majority of 179 over all other parties. Tony Blair became, at 43, the youngest Prime Minister since 1812. For this first term in Government, Tony Blair had promised that there would be no increase in the level of income tax and no increase in the overall level of public spending . Tony Blair’s popularity in the country was at a high level, and although the commitment not to increase public spending led to frustration amongst those Labour Party supporters who had wanted a rapid increase in investment in health and education, his popularity and that of the Labour Party remained high.

Second term in office, 2005-2007

Blair called a fresh general election in May 2001, one year earlier than he was required to, and won a second landslide victory, with an overall majority of 168, though with a much reduced electoral turnout .

Health

The second term in office gave Tony Blair a clear mandate to increase investment in the National Health Service paving the way for annual increases worth more than 7% in the health budget sustained for the five years to 2007-08. How that money has been spent is politically controversial [1], with some believing that much has not been spent efficiently. Others, on the political left, have been unhappy in particular with the involvement of the private sector in the funding of many of the new hospitals – under these arrangements some hospitals were built and are owned and managed (partly) privately while being leased for use by the NHS. Nevertheless, one of legacies of Tony Blair’s government is that all political parties have now accepted that the great majority of the British public want a high quality publicly managed health service with the principle of free universal delivery of health care. This issue, that once appeared to divide the Labour party from the Conservatives, appears to have become a common goal.

Education

The increase in funding for education was no less dramatic: "Education, education, education" was Tony Blair’s slogan for the 1997 general election, and he consistently increased funding for education above the level of inflation throughout his time in Government – an increase from £29 billion in 1997 to £60 billion in 2007 [2]; with further rises to £74 billion projected by 2010. Spending per school pupil was £2,500 in 1997, and is projected to be £6,600 in 2010. There has also been a large increase in funding for Universities financing a large increase in access to University education. This too has been controversial, and critics on the left in particular have objected to the introduction for the first time of student fees to pay part of the cost of higher education, while critics on the right believe that the increase in student numbers implies a lowering of educational standards.

Devolution

Politically, one of the legacies of the Blair government has been devolution in both Scotland and Wales. One of the first acts of the first Blair Government was to hold referendums about devolution in Scotland and Wales, in November 1997. These showed clear support for devolution in Scotland, and, following this result, the 1998 Scotland Act established a separate parliament for Scotland with devolved responsibilities in most domestic areas ; The first Scottish Parliament was elected in May 1999. The referendum in Wales also supported devolution, but by a narrow majority and with a small electoral turnout [3] ; accordingly a Welsh National Assembly was established, but with much more limited powers than the Scottish Parliament.

Northern Ireland

From the 1970's to 1997, more than 3,000 people were killed in Northern Ireland as a result of conflict between nationalist paramilitary groups (mainly the Irish Republican Army - the IRA) and the police and security forces of Northern Ireland, and the British troops that were sent to support those forces, and as a result of terrorist actions by the IRA against civilians. The Thatcher Government had made serious attempts to reach a political settlement of this conflict but by May 1997, this "Peace process" seemed to have been derailed; talks had broken down, and the IRA had abandoned its cease-fire. Tony Blair made resolution of the conflict in Northern Ireland a priority of his Government, and just two weeks after being elected he made a high profile visit to Northern Ireland to give the go-ahead for new talks. In July 1997, the IRA resumed its ceasefire to allow representatives of Sinn Fein (the main nationalist political party and the political arm of the IRA) to take part in negotiations with the Ulster Unionist parties, and with the British and Irish governments. These negotiations, with the involvement also of the Irish government and at times facilitated by the involvement of American politicians (and particularly Bill Clinton, with whom Tony Blair maintained a very close personal friendship), led to the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. That agreement called for a power sharing government of Northern Ireland, conditional on a permanent end to the armed conflict, and disarmament of the paramilitary groups. However, it was opposed on the one hand by the Democratic Unionist party headed by the Reverend Ian Paisley as a sell-out of the majority Protestant unionist population to the terror tactics of the IRA, and on the other side led to a breakaway extremist faction of the IRA - the so-called "real IRA" that briefly resumed terrorist actions. Thus mutual distrust between the two communities of Northern Ireland was slow to recede; nevertheless, the process led to the historic renunciation of armed conflict by the IRA, and to their disarmament[4]. On May 9th, 2007, Ian Paisley was sworn in as the First Minister of the Northern Ireland Assembly, and Martin McGuinness of Sinn Fein was sworn in as his deputy. At the ceremony, the Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern praised Blair as a "true friend of peace and a true friend of Ireland," and for "the true determination that he had, for just sticking with it, for 10 tough years." [5]

Europe

Tony Blair was, in his speeches, a passionate pro-European, a strong supporter of the European Union and a supporter of its enlargement to include the newly democratic countries of Eastern Europe. He was also a strong proponent of the euro, favouring Britain joining the new common European currency at the earliest feasible opportunity after a referendum of the British people. However, to realise this intent meant overcoming the increasing skepticism of the British public - a skepticism that increased as the British economy flourished while those of its European neighbours faltered. Crucially, Gordon Brown, the Chancellor of the Exchequor and Blair's key partner in Government, refused to countenance joining the euro until the economic conditions were "right", setting six conditions that had first to be met. In essence, Brown declared that monetory union would disrupt Britain's economy unless, by then, the economies of Britain and the EU had converged, with similar interest rates and inflation rates. However, as Britain's economy continued to outpace that of the EU, the prospects of Britain joining the euro seem to have receded since 1997. Tony Blair's aquiescience to Gordon Brown in this frustrated some of the most ardent pro-Europeans, particularly those in the Liberal Democrat party, who felt that the long-term political (and long-term economic)benefits of greater European Union outweighed any short-term economic consequences; these felt that after 1997 Tony Blair's personal standing was so high that he would have won any referendum despite the hostility of the media and despite the deep reservations of large parts of the British electorate.

Economy

Underpinning the Blair government's increase in public spending on education and health without raising the level of income tax was a sustained period of economic growth, sometimes credited to the Chancellor Gordon Brown. A key element of this is believed to be the early decision of the Blair government to devolve the power to set interest rates to an independent body - the Bank of England, subject only to politically determined objectives for the rate of inflation and the overall level of public spending. This decision meant in practice that interest rates could no longer be manipulated by the government in power to produce a 'false' economic boom for mere electoral reasons, and led to a steady low level of inflation, and a steady, stable rate of economic growth.

Iraq

Tony Blair’s single biggest political problem by far was his support for military action to displace Saddam Hussein in Iraq. He justified this policy by his repeated declarations that he believed the evidence of British and American intelligence sources that Saddam Hussein possessed and was further accumulating Weapons of Mass Destruction that posed a serious and imminent threat to the security of the world. He tried vigorously to persuade the United Nations to act collectively against Saddam Hussain, but when they failed to endorse collective action, he supported the US decision to invade Iraq regardless, believing, it is said by some, that the consequences of a unilateral military action by the US would be inevitably graver than those of a multilateral action, however limited the involvement of other countries.

The outcome of the invasion of Iraq, and the failure to find Weapons of Mass Destruction, profoundly affected Tony Blair’s credibility and his popularity. Nevertheless, in May 2005 Tony Blair won a third general election for Labour, though with a much reduced overall majority of 64 seats [6]

Resignation and departure as Prime Minister

Resignation announcement

10th May 2007 marked the official announcement of the end of Blair's premiership, with a departure date set for the following 27th June. In a speech made in his Sedgefield constituency, Blair announced a timetable for leaving office, paving the way for his successor Gordon Brown after over ten years of power. In words that emphasised his domestic record more than his international influence, Blair credited his government with lowering crime, stabilising the economy and improving public services; he also emphasised that it had placed the UK at the forefront of fighting terrorism, tackling climate change and providing aid to troubled regions such as Africa. Often accused of having a fervently religious approach to wider issues, he also remained committed to the view that time would see his decision-making vindicated:

I did what I thought was right. I may have been wrong, that's your call, but I did what I thought was right for our country.

An apology for his most-criticised activities was unforthcoming. In concluding, however, Blair admitted that he had made unspecified mistakes:

My apologies to you for the times I've fallen short. But good luck.

Final acts as Prime Minister

Tony Blair's final appearances as an international politician were at the 2007 Group of Eight (G8) summit held between some of the world's most economically powerful states, and a meeting of the European Council of European Union countries. These actions would be expected from a premiership often strongly focused on issues outside the UK's borders, though Blair's intention to bring the country closer to its European partners was not entirely fulfilled. Back in Britain, Blair's final days as Prime Minister saw his name rarely out of the national press: he called the media a "feral beast" while admitting his government's early desire to 'spin' stories may have aggravated this issue; and he strongly criticised the proposed academic boycott on Israeli universities in one of his final performances in the UK's lower house of parliament. As for the upper house, he reaffirmed his view that the House of Lords should remain appointed rather than elected.

Departure

27th June 2007 saw Tony Blair resign as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; his final act in office was to appear for the usual weekly questions to the premier in the House of Commons, where political friends and foe alike paid tribute to some of his record, such as continuing the work towards long-term peace in Northern Ireland. Blair conceded that he had "never pretended to be a great House of Commons man", acknowledging the view that his tenure had seen moves to sideline Parliament; and he apologised for the dangers British troops faced in Iraq. His words of farewell underlined the finality of the event:

I wish everyone, friend or foe, well and that is that, the end.

Immediately after leaving office, Blair severed his final link with UK domestic politics by stepping down as Member of Parliament for Sedgefield, a constituency he represented in the British parliament from 1983 until his appointment as a Middle East envoy in 2007.

External links

• tonyblairoffice.org - Official site with details of Tony Blair's post-Downing Street career.
• Tony Blair archive - official record of Tony Blair's speeches, films and podcasts from the UK Prime Minister's website.
• The Blair Years 1997-2007 - BBC articles covering major events of Tony Blair's premiership, with analysis.
• The New York Times - Includes short biography and links to NY Times articles relating to Tony Blair.
• BBC News - recording of Tony Blair's final appearance for Prime Minister's Questions in Parliament

See also

• List of Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom
• Gordon Brown
• George W. Bush