Blair: Britain's changing culture
Thursday, May 10, 2007 
Speaking in his Sedgefield constituency, Tony Blair today announced that he will step down as Labour leader and Prime Minister on June 27th. I have just received a synopsis of his speech from our parliamentary monitors. Here are some highlights. Feel free to comment.
Setting out his political outlook, he said that he was born a decade after the Second World War, grew up during the social revolution of the Sixties, and became politically aware towards the end of the Cold War. And he noticed that his country seemed "old fashioned".
He said people now wanted a respectful society but a tolerant one as well. "Britain is not a follower today, Britain is a leader," he declared. He praised a change in culture that had seen the development of paid holiday rights, a minimum wage, thriving arts, and the movements to help Africa and tackle climate change.
He argued that for all the faults of the UK it was now a country comfortable in the 21st century and able to be proud of its past and confident of its future.
Doing the "right thing according to conventional wisdom" was not always the right thing. Instead, he said, prime ministers had to "act according to your conviction" even where that would be attacked as "messianic zeal". He accepted that the pain could never be justified for some people. But he argued that challenging terrorism and global threats of that nature was a battle of wills that had to be won.
Drawing to a conclusion, Mr Blair justified his mistakes and failures, saying "Hand on heart I did what I thought was right," adding "I may have been wrong, that's your call. But believe one thing above all else, I did what I thought was right for our country."
He gave thanks to the people for his successes, and apologised for times when he had fallen short, and praised them saying: "The British are special. The world knows it. In our inner most thoughts we know it. This is the greatest nation on earth."
Simon Clark
Yuk! Tobacco Campaigners Bid A Fond Farewell. Pass the sickbag.
Reader Comments (23)
I'm sure that, were I to meet Tony Blair, I would be impressed by his undoubted personal charm but, after 10 years of his premiership, I loathe living in this country so much that, had I the means, I'd join the droves who are moving abroad.
I don't want to live in a country where CCTV cameras shout at people who commit minor offences whilst many criminals escape justice partly because a demoralised police force is tied up in red tape; where people are punished more harshly for putting their rubbish out on the wrong day/too late/too early/in the wrong place than for shoplifting, where aggression, boorishness and selfishness seem to have replaced courtesy, good manners, tolerance and goodwill, where standards of literacy have fallen so low that it is not uncommon to hear supposedly well educated broadcasters and journalists make basic errors, where people have difficulty finding an NHS dentist whilst many prefer the inconvenience of having treatment abroad rather than run the risk of contracting an infection in our dirty hospitals and where trouble isn't taken to scrutinise scientiic evidence on which policy is based.
Tony Blair has, in my opinion, by example, led a government which treats the electorate with a disdain which it doesn't even bother to conceal. Despite his insistence, I don't believe that Tony Blair leaves this country with better values or a better standard of education or health care than when he arrived. Like his speech today it is rather a matter of style over substance.
I'm sad to say I voted for him back in 1997. I had I known back then his party only had 2 ideas (ban it or tax it) then I would have reconsidered where to draw my X.
This government has devalued everything - including the field of education I work in. Tutors are no longer treated with respect and are expected to do endless piles of pointless paperwork. People who studied for and achieved very good degrees in academic subjects over 20 years ago (like me) are treated like idiots. This is the same for workers in other sectors. Standards have deteriorated considerably in many respects. I'm pleased to say that I did not vote for Tony Blair in 1997 and had the good sense to vote against his party in subsequent elections - general and local. Part of his legacy will be the further deterioration in standards and destruction and erosion of values and traditions - this will continue - and I have not even mentioned the wars in Iraq and other places!
Some good comments above. Just one point to make on this man. He said he did what he thought was right and he said it was our call to accept that or not. And the news anchor said he was being humble.
Were he a normal citizen I would be very happy that he does what he thinks is right. Regular citizens don't have the power to make the kind of mistakes that a Prime Minister can make.
I expect many people will look at Brown and Cameron as the next two likely candidates for the job. There will be mistakes available to them too and I'm sure they will do what they think best. But should they have the power to make those mistakes in the first place? Should people in government have whatever powers they think they need at the time? Isn't it about time they were reined in again like King John?
Good point Bernie re: 'reined in like King John'. If I remember correctly, I believe he said he believed he was answerable to God - that reminds me of the belief in the divine right of royalty. Charles the First ended up being decapitated for such beliefs in 1649.
When Mr Blair said he 'believed he was right', he most certainly did not consult the vast majority of the populus. Whilst saying that he obviously believed HE was right, and nobody else. I'm hoping that people who always believe THEY are right, and that other people's views/opinions are subsidiary to their beliefs, ultimately experience retribution (as in Shakespeare etc. and the Bard of Avon was a great expert in the study of human nature). If people are given enough rope, they ultimately hang themselves.
Yes Rob, a lot of us are guilty of voting for Tony in 1997; not much choice really as the Torys had become lazy, incompetant and corrupt.
If only we had known what Tony was going to do to this country, but then again we all wish for hindsight. If Cameron was just to take up the mantle of dismantling the rules, regulations, laws, dictates etc that plague our every move, then would romp home at the next General Election. What is Cameron frightened of? Give us back our freedom and responsibility to decide our own way in life - not what some government thinks is good for us.
I somewhat fear for the future.
Bill; I don't believe there is any MP in the entire UK who would do as you say in dismantling the damage. It isn't a matter of whether or not it would be a vote winner (personally I think it would be if they could get the message out in a pure and uncorrupted form) it just isn't in the interests of anyone of any colour in government to retreat. Governments do not let go of their power. If they did we would no longer have income tax which was introduced as a temporary measure to "pay for the Napoleonic wars."
I've never liked or trusted the man. From day one, his mannerisms and false sincerity reminded me far too much of Alan B'stad.
I am with Joyce and as soon as I have the wherewithall I will be vacating this country for good.
There was a question posed on a local radio station asking what Tony Blair and his government did for the country - the first two things that came to my mind were:
1. Total loss of democracy in favour of dictatorship
2. Total loss of freedom to choose
Neither one something to be proud of by any decent human being.
Joyce and Lyn, may I join the queue?! If I won the lottery and had the financial means and no elderly family to look after, I'd be off too!
My plan calls for vacating the UK after September 2008. This'll be the second time I've emigrated away, but this time I won't be coming back.
I too have had thoughts of leaving the UK. But the obvious next question has to be where can you go that will be better? I have found very few that really appeal apart from maybe New Hampshire. So where do you guys above have in mind?
I agree 100% with Joyce. We are in a Big Brother Nanny State. Freedoms have been eroded bit by bit. I dare say there is more to come with Brown and Cameron waiting in the wings. I am also counting down the days when I can leave these shores!
Bernie, as Spain has become too expensive for many of us, I have been looking into Bulgaria. We have yet to make a trip out there but friends who have been say how nice it is and the information that is available on the internet look positive. I have also found a forum which has posts from Brits who have just moved out there and Brits who have been there for up to 10 years. None of them seem to want to come back!
Lyn, Spain is still very cheap by British standards and it's there I;ve got my sights set on - to the point where I've started learning Spanish.
I have ambitions of becomming a fiction writer and my first novel should be finished by the end June - at which point it goes out to agents and I start writing my 2nd.
Assuming I can sell at least one book between now and next September then I'm off and not looking back.
Rob, I guess it depends on where you live in the UK and what value your current property is. Unfortunately we do not have much capital and would need to sell our house and pay off a small mortgage to raise the cash to buy abroad. The idea is, as we are both now in our 50's, to retire - I've had enough of the rat race and would rather work to help people than have to work in order to live! Anyway, for us, that means to get what we would need to accommodate our pets, Spain is too expensive or us, even though the cost of living is a lot less. We also feel that we would need some cash in the bank for a bit of security, so again that reduces what we can afford to spend on a property.
Good luck to you though, both with your book and your proposed move.
I've only been to Spain twice and I have started learning the language. The language barrier can be more easily overcome if you've learned French, and especially so if you have studied Latin to O level, as I did very many years ago. When I was last there earlier this year, the atmosphere was lovely. It was sunny and people seemed relaxed and happy. In addition to this 'laisser faire' atmosphere, I was able to go to pubs and smoke (in spite of their ban) without feeling like Kafka's character, Josef K, from 'The Trial', so I reckon that Spain would be a good place for me - I could also communicate with the thousands of Germans still resident there as I once lived in Germany! Or, like Joe Jackson, I could go to Berlin! However, new ideas are welcome and I like the one about Bulgaria.
To slightly paraphrase the Sound of Music: "So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye" - and good riddance. It's nauseating to see Tony Blair lauded for creating a more liberal society. One of his own ministers (Caroline Flint) announced proudly that we live in a "less tolerant society". Which means, I suppose, we don't have to be nice to anti-smokers any more?
I agree with you all there's not one worth a vote, I also agree with Author Terry Pratchett to paraphrase "all politicians should be locked up as soon as they are elected, it saves time latter".
Oh and by the way, would the last person to leave the country remember to turn out the lights.
Yours
Pete
To reply to Bernie, for me it remains a pipe dream until I can find a means to support myself which doesn't entail living here which my present work does. I'm not fussy - anywhere there is still a modicum of honesty, justice and good will would do!!
Given that, already, Gordon Brown is setting out his stall and trying to distance himself from the Tonyesque school of government, pledging one that is more humble and fair might it be worth FOREST, as a political lobby group, trying again on the proposed smoking ban? Simon, can you say?
Joyce, Gordon Brown (like Tony Blair and health secretary Patricia Hewitt) voted against his own government's policy (to provide an exemption for pubs that don't serve food) in favour of a total ban. I'm afraid it is wishful thinking to think that he will amend the legislation.
Dear Prime Minister,
From the summer of 2007, a significant number of my friends and I will no longer be able to go to our local pub and have a smoke with our pints. Thank you very much Prime Minister!
For many years I have enjoyed going to my local pub, and socializing with others, many of whom also smoke. Smoking is not an illegal activity, however if I were to light a pipe up in my local after the ban has been implemented, then, I would be guilty of an offence, how ridiculous.
Why couldn’t the government compromise, and allow areas in pubs and clubs where it would have been possible to smoke without interfering with other peoples enjoyment, surely this would have been a sensible option. Any area within a pub or other type of social establishment that is adequately ventilated would have provided the perfect solution. I’m led to believe that even setting up a club by smokers, for smokers would still be illegal, it’s nice to know that this great country of ours is still a democracy.
Our country today is plagued by, as it has been for many years now, a virulent form of political correctness. Essentially, this has allowed the anti-smoking lobby to have its way, to the detriment of some 13 million people who smoke, and let it be said provide the Chancellor with many billions of pounds of revenue each year. This political correctness also extends to doctors threatening to withhold treatment if people admit to being smokers; it’s this kind of intimidation in a democratic country that is wholly unacceptable.
There has never been a public debate in the media, about bringing in a smoking ban that would prove to be so far reaching and draconian. Since banning adverts for tobacco products in the 1970s, the onslaught on the smoker has been relentless. Passive smoking has been the clarion call of the anti-smoking lobby; and has been successfully propagated without any empirical or intrinsic evidence whatsoever. This debate was never allowed to start. Is this what you would call democracy - after all don’t we elect you to listen to us?
When you leave public office, your financial position will enable you to enjoy your life to the full, without having to give much thought to any basic considerations, that affect a great many people like me. Smoking my pipe with a pint of beer in my local pub, is one of the few pleasures in life that I was able to look forward to – this will now be denied me – as it will be to millions of others.
Once again – thank you Prime Minister to you and your government for destroying a vital part of English social life. Enjoy your retirement Tony.
Chris F J Cyrnik
Well expressed, Chris F J Cyrnik - my sentiments exactly (only I smoke cigarettes and not a pipe). There are so many people I know who enjoy pipes, roll-ups, cigars and cigarettes who would appreciate reading your missive. I am now going to my local every night (even if it just for an hour) to make the best of things before this ludicrous ban comes in. My landlady has told me that the cigarette machine is being taken out on June 30th, all cigars, papers and matches are to be removed from the premises and all stickers in place for the GREAT 1st July. If she wants to buy matches to light her coal fires, she must go up the road to her local small supermarket to purchase some!!! I've even offered to design and print of a sign saying: "Rauchen Verboten", because Hitler would have really approved of this (he was a staunch anti-smoker) and once he was pronounced dead, guards and soldiers in the Berlin Bunker brought out their cigarettes and smoked them with relief!
Tony Blair (aided and abetted by his lovely wife, Cherie - and, yes, I believe that harpie is behind all this too) will be enjoying the lucrative lecture circuits in the USA whilst ordinary citizens are left with wrecked social lives and being continually vilified in Britain. When they finally (and I repeat 'finally') leave Downing Street, there should be a mob waiting outside ready to throw rotten vegetables and fruit at them - I only wish I could be there, but I live too far away!