Tony Blair resignation speech (part 1) 

Had it not been for Iraq, he would have gone down as probably one of the greatest leaders this country has ever had. As it is, he still rates way above the vast majority. I'm one of Tony's constituents and a Labour Party member; I was there when he made the speech. To hear him speak was spellbinding - he is a wonderful, wonderful communicator and it is this quality that placed us on the world stage. I saw a close up of myself on various news programmes and I was hanging on his every word.

In 2003 I nearly gave up my party membership in protest at Iraq, I'm glad I didn't. It should have been so very different, but he did what he felt was right at the time, the tragedy being he stuck with the decision. I shook his hand as he left Trimdon, and said "Thank you from my friends in Northern Ireland." The North has such a bright future thanks to him, we mustn't forget that. It's a wonderful place to visit now. I hope time shows that as his major legacy.

he's such a clever, wise man

A great man. A great PM. I suppose he is able to go down in history as "choosing his own date of departure". It's not accurate though. He's going due to the shortsightedness of his party, mainly. The Iraq repercussions are bloody, but Blair is not spilling the blood. That will be OUR blood too if we allow terrorists to be free, as Blair has warned us recently. We may miss him more than we yet realise.

I love Tony!!he is very cool!

agreed.

I've been watching all the PMs speeches today (Rishi Sunak defeated), this one is actually one of the worst: slow, meandering, 30 mins long instead of 10 mins long.

Ten years ago today! (10.5.2017)

The Iraq issue cast a huge black shadow on an otherwise positive rule. I, like many, was against the war. But this shouldn't blind us to the achievements made under his rule. Sure he made mistakes, but at least he tried!

Although i didn't agree what he said, hes a superb public speaker.

Thank you!!!

@devrup63 People say how bad he was. Imagine Mike Howard, IDS, William Hauge as PM. He was the best PM Since WWII

i agree

had a party when he resigned now i'd take him over cameron or may

I wondered how far down I'd have to go to find a plus ;)

Tony Blair was a great pm a fantastic orator the best labour leader ever wish he was still in politics miss him.

One of the greatest PM's this country has ever seen. A great speaker and a great leader. Nobody serves the length of time he did in office without being good! All you people giving liable probably did not vote, so you can't complain!! Nothing is a bad as you read/hear on the news or down the pub.

@GSPalooza Yeah right.

Politics is not an easy job. I'm not defending recent problems or actions, but having to make serious, world changing and life changing decisions - for example, war... can't be easy. We trust politicians to guide our country when it needs to be guided and for that they are good people for taking that mantle. (Just of course, some of the choices they made could have been better like choosing to claim thousands of pounds for stupid things.)

Blair: 'This is the greatest nation on earth' and people will comment with negative remarks, The british come together in times of crisis, we went to war with america not to kiss arse but because 9/11 was an attack on all western cultures. Him saying that is because he knows like all brits, its the people what makes a nation so great & you can't get better than a brit, we're known to be fair & tolerant with excellent humanity

@weedmanify I hate him as much as the next man, but people were celebrating at 3 in the morning on the streets in 1997, he won over 400 seats, he could only ever fail.

@yfjameslo Cameron untrustworthy? Give him a chance. The institue of fiscal studies said everyone would make cuts by more than they estimated, Cameron said he's make more cuts than the rest, so surely his plan is most credible. He's openly admitted to an unpopular policy, something Blair could never do.

So England wouldn't be ready to tear itself apart with civil unrest without Tony then?

As a soldier in the british army you sign it states you could go to war and not come back I no it sounds heartless but that's being a soldier I no it hurts you child being killed but it's there duty they sign for please forgive it it sounds bad ?

@emmabryant123 Yea he makes Winston Churchill look like a right mug.

BROWN OUT. BRING BACK BLAIR!

better than churchill? we can thank his legacy for the shit storm we are in now.

shame it took 10 years to happen! such a huge let down.

The ginicoefficient, a measure of equality from 0 to 1, 0 being perfect equality, was slightly above 3 in 1997 and hasn't fallen since. Oh and as for that claim on education, 1/5th leave school with no qualifications now, higher in 1997. And Unemployment, he got out just in time, the deficit rose steadily when he was in charge to the extent that the Government can't boost demand too much now, and unemployment has just hit a 16 year high.

If only Japan has oil like Iraq, there will be no wonder what could have happened..

I agree the war has gone on for a long time, but it took Japan 5 times as long to become stable, and now they are one of the most prosperous countries on earth. Our world needs to be safe from terror and the key is having freedom and democracy established in the middle-east, just like with Germany and Japan after WWII. Don't disrespect my friends and family just because you want something to rebel against.

@devrup63 To be surpassed by David Cameron.

@devrup63 Clement Attlie was the greatest Primeminister ever.

Okay? And your counterarguement is?

as an american i highly disagree

@aeronuk1 Countries will develop, especially with massive resource endowments that we don't have. You're not necessarily wrong but you don't understand the issues you speak about.

Great PM!

Seriously, the history of a party can be useful reference, but ultimately the choice lies on 1) the PRESENT leader's capability and charisma 2) Policies proposed to deal with current affairs of immediacy 3) The motives and intentions of a party. Gordon Brown is a leadership fail, and Cameron an untrustworthy, incompetent "prat". UK politics has been losing shine since Blair's second term, and there's no sign of recovery still.

@beastwoody *You're, shows how education standards actually fell under his premier.

s first 4 years were the best.

@ThePompeymale I wouldn't mind seeing Eden on top of Brown! I'm not gay!

I think history has already told us that Bush, Blair, and Howard were wrong. There was never a threat of nuclear weapons, and the people of Iraq are far worse off. And this happened after 2 million people marched against the war in London.. 2 million! It blows my mind. The sad thing is, if it were not for Iraq, I think Blair would be remembered as one of the greatest British prime ministers of all time.

@emmabryant123 Certainly a superb politcian, a total disaster for the UK thought sadly.

blair is flawed like all of us - i just don't understand why he is reviled and condemned. The United States could use some politicians like him his pragmatism and vision make him a first-rate PM in my mind

I think he was the best PM this country has ever had. In my lifetime, Thatcher was the worst.

Despite the achievements he did do and deserves the credit for doing so ( not difficult when you have attained three landslide majority's to pass it through as law) his close relationship with Bush and what followed will overshadow that sadly for him, only Monica Lewinsky had a closer relationship to an US President then Blair did, and that resulted in the lies that killed a million people, Soldiers, Iraqis, not to mention the constant support of that terrorist state - Israel.

@iamBRANKK : war and all; WARTS and all....

@thedavewalkershow And yet the British public, so quick to forget, still inexplicably support the likes of Brown and Miliband. Away with you, Tony, you'll not be missed.

lol!!!!!!

Greatest British Prime Minister in the past 50 years....

he is UK's George Bush

How? You are referring to the man whose economic policies turned economic prosperity into national debt; whose domestic policies further divided our society, widening the gap between rich and poor; and whose foreign policies have led to an illegal, unjustified war in another sovereign nation. He tried to hand us over to the Euro. He's ruined the welfare state and made families dependent on benefits. And he has never apologised for any of his wrongdoings. By the way, the best PM was Churchill.

@poppascrote sorry what has the israeli intelligence service got to do with this?

how old are you ....12?

I am a Tory Supporter. But I must say, this man is a true champion. I pay my greatest respects to a Prime Minister who made our country better socially, internationally and internally. God speed to you Mr Blair.

The 2005 General Election was not a landslide. In fact the Conservatives got far more votes in England.

I'm pretty sure Lizards can't pretend to be Humans,

@emmabryant123 ahaha

Why the hell did he resigned?

Blair was the best PM this countrys had, if you ignore Iraq.

Get your info right, that was a song contest, we had a terrible song. And no western european countries were in the top 5, nations in the eurovision all vote for there neighbours, everyone knows that! And you are english, you know its the people that make a nation great so why dis yourself, call yourself a brit!

He made the right choice by becoming Catholic !!!!

Actually Blair was the worst Prime Minister we ever had, and he destroyed the UK.

Yeah, he went to Iraq and no WMDs were found, but at least Saddam is gone, the economy grew in every sector, results got better. You may hate him, but like it or not he got the job done

"you didn't have family members die in 9/11 or have friends that have died in Iraq." Wouldn't you want to seek the truth? The real culprits who murdered these people on 9/11?

i don't like this man. any b"good" he did in his earlier time as PM is overshadowed by an invasion of Iraq without good cause. and he supports the Toon lololol....they've only won two trophies in his entre lifetime..

Northern Ireland was pretty much sorted when he arrived. Overall Blair was an unmitigated disaster for this country.