He is a one-man Greek Tragedy

Won with such a landslide and such goodwill he could literally have done anything in his first term.

But he was too scared of frightening this constituency-predicated-on-some-focus-group-or-that that he did nothing.

His genuine contribution was in Northern Ireland. John Major did some great work there too but Blair can justifiably claim to have been the man that made it all work in the end.

However both Iraq and the way he has used his former post for his own ends since leaving office - not one British Prime Minister in the past on either side has ever done similar - mean that he will be judged harshly, and frankly it's hard to argue against that judgement.

A particular highlight was his role as Middle East Peace Envoy. Compare and contrast the state of affairs before and after, and tell me how well he's done. Mind you he has made a lot of profitable contacts in the Palestinian business community (which is the precise reason that side of the debate don't trust him, incidentally).

I liked Major more than most at the time and I retain a soft spot, but I voted Labour in that '97 election, and I've regretted it in a way ever since. But of the choices available, etc...Major was a decent man in charge of an indecent party. Blair at the time turned out to be an indecent man in charge of a decent party, but we couldn't see it at the time.

The Tory party is much more decent now, the Labour party much less so; but I still struggle to say which would actually run the country better. My vote this time is very much up for grabs.

Posted By: Old Man, Apr 7, 23:35:27