by Martin Brown

Created on: April 05, 2007   Last Updated: May 17, 2007

Tony Blair's legacy?hmmmmmmmm. Where to begin? As a Conservative leaning person it would be to easy for me to use this as an oppurtunity to bash our premier but all things being fair I will keep this as fair and as even an evaluation as possible.
In looking at the past ten years the country under Blair has seen a lot of upheaval and social change. We now have one of the strongest economies of recent years due to the fact that Blair despite having a fierce rivalry with his own chancellor decided not to use his power to have him removed from such a big post and instead kept in charge of our economy knowing that he was the right man for the right job and did not let his own views about Gordon Brown interfere with the good of the country and in some ways has shown great moral integrity by doing so. On home affairs in general Blair has not done to shoddy a job he had been let down by one bad home secretary after another but kept changing the formula until worked out a solution in the form of Doctor Reid who seems to understand the issues facing the home offce even though at times he does not seem one hundred percent sure what to do about them. Blair's reforms of the upper house and peers has created a more effective balance between the commons and the lord which will become even more effective when further reforms are introduced probably later this year. This reform of an old stuffy institution mixed with his positive relationship with the royal fanmily shows he knows which institutions to change and which to leave alone and has wisely never entertained the idea of Britain becoming a republic.

Blair has also overseen the creation of devolved assemblies the most historic being in Northern Ireland which despite teething problems at last appears to be now having a sense of direction and on the surface Sinn Fein and thgen D.U.P. are at last comiong together, yes indeed under Blair Northern Ireland appears to be entering positive exciting times the catalyst of course being Tony Blairs appointment of the late Mo Mowlam as Northern Ireland secretary.
This ability of Blair to pick the right person for the right job is one of Blair's greatest skills and talents even if it means sticking by people who blatantly want his job (again, refer to our chancellor). This masterclass in person management is an absolute must learn lesson for any succesive prime minister Labour or other wise.
Tony will leave a legacy of peace Northern Ireland but war in Iraq,
Greater understanding of crime but not the means as yet to confront growing anti-social behaviour and a lack of respect for society, and it is these half measures that seem to burden our country and ultimately his political epitath will read,
"Sorry guys I did my best and understood the issues but too many of my own gutless minions and career hungry cronies stopped me getting the job done."

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