The end of an era: Tony Blair to announce tomorrow when he will leave office

Thur AM Update: Blair announced this morning that his last day in office will be June 27. Links galore on this story can be found via Memeorandum.

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Via Reuters:

LONDON (Reuters) – Ten years after sweeping into power, an increasingly unpopular Tony Blair will announce on Thursday when he plans to step aside and allow finance minister Gordon Brown to take over as Britain’s prime minister.

Blair, U.S. President George W. Bush’s closest ally over Iraq, leaves office out of favor among voters for sending British forces to join the 2003 invasion. A Labour Party revolt in September forced him to say he would quit within a year.

But he will be remembered for helping bring peace to Northern Ireland after decades of violence, winning three straight elections for Labour for the first time and dragging it from its left-wing roots to the center of British politics.

An opinion poll published by the Guardian newspaper on Thursday showed 60 percent of voters believed Blair would be remembered as a force for change, though not always good. The ICM poll said 44 percent believed he had been good for Britain.

Whatever people think of how he handled the Brits-in-Iran hostage crisis (and I think he handled it poorly) what shouldn’t get lost is what a steadfast ally the UK has been to the US in the war on terror. I wrote this last September in a post about Tony Blair going off on Europe’s anti-American attitude, and I think it’s worth repeating:

The sad thing is that once Blair’s gone, whoever is elected to replace him will likely campaign on a platform of ‘soft’ anti-Americanism. That is, not outright saying that America is the root of all evil, but implying that our policies ‘endanger the world’ and other such assorted nonsense.

I will be sad to see Blair go. I’m not a fan of his domestic policies, but his stance on the war on terror and standing beside the US in the face of substantial opposition and ridicule in the UK is to be admired. We’ll miss ya, Mr. Prime Minister.

By the way, click on the picture for the story behind that handshake. Classic example of why Mr. Blair stands tall against a bunch of frightened sheep posing as ‘leaders’ in Europe.

On the positive side, France’s President-elect Sarkozy is not the staunch anti-American his predecessor is, and has pledged friendship with the US, so while the US is losing Blair’s alliance, we’re picking up France’s under Sarkozy. Unfortunately, there are some issues Sarko disagrees with the US on, namely Iraq (even at that he still apologized last year for the French “arrogance” on the issue of Iraq), but still it’ll be nice to have an ally in Europe who isn’t so reflexively anti-US. There’s Germany’s chancellor Angela Merkel, as well, but I think it’s safe to say that President Bush won’t have another European ally quite like Blair for the rest of his term in office. Videos like this where he explains Islamofascism to an ignorant press corps who have essentially said that it’s Bush and Blair’s fault that Islamofascism exists:

This was Blair in July of 2003, in a speech he gave to Congress after receiving the Congressional gold medal:

Members of Congress, if this seems a long way from the threat of terror and weapons of mass destruction, it is only to say again that the world security cannot be protected without the world’s heart being one. So America must listen as well as lead. But, members of Congress, don’t ever apologize for your values.

Tell the world why you’re proud of America. Tell them when the Star-Spangled Banner starts, Americans get to their feet, Hispanics, Irish, Italians, Central Europeans, East Europeans, Jews, Muslims, white, Asian, black, those who go back to the early settlers and those whose English is the same as some New York cab drivers I’ve dealt with, but whose sons and daughters could run for this Congress.

Tell them why Americans, one and all, stand upright and respectful. Not because some state official told them to, but because whatever race, color, class or creed they are, being American means being free. That’s why they’re proud.

As Britain knows, all predominant power seems for a time invincible, but, in fact, it is transient. The question is: What do you leave behind? And what you can bequeath to this anxious world is the light of liberty.

That is what this struggle against terrorist groups or states is about. We’re not fighting for domination. We’re not fighting for an American world, though we want a world in which America is at ease. We’re not fighting for Christianity, but against religious fanaticism of all kinds.

And this is not a war of civilizations, because each civilization has a unique capacity to enrich the stock of human heritage. We are fighting for the inalienable right of humankind – black or white, Christian or not, left, right or a million different – to be free, free to raise a family in love and hope, free to earn a living and be rewarded by your efforts, free not to bend your knee to any man in fear, free to be you so long as being you does not impair the freedom of others. That’s what we’re fighting for. And it’s a battle worth fighting.

And I know it’s hard on America, and in some small corner of this vast country, out in Nevada or Idaho or these places I’ve never been to, but always wanted to go. I know out there there’s a guy getting on with his life, perfectly happily, minding his own business, saying to you, the political leaders of this country, ‘Why me? And why us? And why America?’

And the only answer is, ‘Because destiny put you in this place in history, in this moment in time, and the task is yours to do.’

And our job, my nation that watched you grow, that you fought alongside and now fights alongside you, that takes enormous pride in our alliance and great affection in our common bond, our job is to be there with you. You are not going to be alone. We will be with you in this fight for liberty. We will be with you in this fight for liberty. And if our spirit is right and our courage firm, the world will be with us.

We salute you, Mr. Blair, and wish you well.

And most of all, we say, “thanks.”

6 Responses to "The end of an era: Tony Blair to announce tomorrow when he will leave office"

Angevin13 says:

May 9, 2007 at 10:25 pm

I was in Scotland in 2001 during the British election and was hoping for Blair and Labour to lose, actually helping to campaign for some conservative candidates for Parliament (they didn’t do so well.) No one could’ve predicted then that Blair would react in a war on terror the way he did. You’re right – he was a steadfast ally in the face of serious opposition and his courage in this regard should be admired. I lived in England right after 9/11 and during the run-up to the Iraq War – believe me, it wasn’t easy for Blair.

In Bush’s address to Congress after 9/11 he said America has no greater friend than Britain, and on terrorism and Iraq, Blair certainly lived up to that title.

I’ll be sad to see him go, too.
Drewsmom says:

May 10, 2007 at 6:36 am

Thank you for being a friend and I’d sing the whole song to you Tony if I knew the words.
You will be missed.
The Oxford Medievalist says:

May 10, 2007 at 6:38 am

Blair to Step Down as British Prime Minister

Reuters and The Guardian are reporting that after ten years, Tony Blair will step down as Prime Minister of Great Britain, and endorse the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, for the next Prime Minister. According to The Guardian, Blair will ret…
Leslie says:

May 10, 2007 at 10:19 am

It seems appropriate with the departure of the Prime Minister to quote from the “Golden Speech” of Elizabeth I, which she made to her last parliament in 1601, when she was 68. (She would live two more years.)(

“And though you have had, and may have, many princes more mighty and wise sitting in this seat, yet you never had nor shall have, any that will be more careful and loving.”

http://tinyurl.com/yqk283

So long, Mr. Prime Minister, and thanks for the ride.
Great White Rat says:

May 10, 2007 at 11:14 am

When Tony Blair first ascended to the post of Prime Minister, I thought Britain was getting a Bill Clinton lone – a poll-driven lightweight leftist. I’ve never been so pleased to have been wrong.

I’ll probably never agree with 90% of the Prime Minister’s positions, but that 10% is the most important part. The rest falls apart without that bedrock 10%. Things like the need for people to live free. Things like the need to protect the modern world from fanatics who would destroy 1000 years of progress in the name of a bloodthirsty cult. Most of all, it’s the idea that you put aside the 90% and close ranks when the foundation is threatened.

When terrorism exploded into the most critical issue of our time, Tony Blair acted and instinctively chose the right course. No polling. No daily conferences with the left-wing pressure groups. Just do what is right. That’s character. The closest thing we have in America to Tony Blair is Joe Lieberman, another one who’s wrong on the 90% but steadfast on the important things.

Blair’s stand possibly took even more strength that Bush’s. Here, 9/11 created a temporary lull in the constant opposition from the left and strengthened the President’s hand in dealing with the issue. Blair had no such benefit, but he moved anyway.

So now, years later, as the faint of heart begin to wear down and take pot shots at him, the Prime Minister is leaving. He can leave office with his head held high. History, I suspect, will be much kinder to him than the editorials now being written by men of much weaker backbones. If islamofascism is eventually stamped out, and a free, stable Iraq can emerge from all of this, people in that part of the world will speak of him (and others like John Howard and Geogre Bush) with reverence. Sort of like Ronald Reagan is a hero to much of eastern Europe, even to those who weren’t alive in the 1980s. That won’t be a bad legacy to have. Not bad at all.

Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister. I wish you well in your retirement. You’ve more than earned it.
Vegas Art Guy says:

May 10, 2007 at 6:17 pm

Tony is a man of courage. He’ll be missed. I would not be suprised if he were more popular on this side of the pond than on his. I just hope their next PM has that kind of backbone.

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