Tony Blair on Radio 4 this morning

boromike85 said:
I think one thing that is forgotten is that a sitting, or potential politician, has everything scrutinised and judged and so they have to be overly-careful to the point that they basically just avoid having a genuine conversation. They all come across as incompetent idiots but whenever I see one on something talking about things that aren't to do with politics they seem like normal, reasonable people. Some of the long-serving ones with nothing left to gain/lose can seem reasonable at times but the majority of them are far more comfortable attacking each other than just having a proper discussion.

Part of that is our fault, or at least the media's fault because that has been their game for a long time. It would be nice if we could allow them more freedom to talk things through, make mistakes and be honest about them without calling everything a scandal and demanding a sacking. Cross-party as well preferably. Far more could be achieved by finding something that everyone is happy about instead of politics just being a game between two sides permanently trying to catch each other out.
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the current day media are an absolute disgrace and getting worse day by day, with their clickbait headlines and sensationalism no one in power is fully free to do as they want.
 
FatCat said:
the current day media are an absolute disgrace and getting worse day by day, with their clickbait headlines and sensationalism no one in power is fully free to do as they want.
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Whilst I agree with you about the media being an absolute disgrace, I think the current administration are doing exactly as they please, whilst the media salivates over how much worse off we'd all apparently be under Corbyn and Abbott.
 
HarryVegas said:
Anyone else hear it? This isn't the cue for Tory apologists to bring up the Iraq war - I didn't agree with it either and he lost me at that point.

But hearing an intelligent adult talking about the covid crisis and the options going forward in terms of government strategy made me realise just how far we have fallen. He wasn't there banging the drum against the current lot, or in favour of Labour. He was just talking about management, leadership and strategy in time of crisis, and the difference between what I heard from him and what we hear from the current lot was massive.

The interviewer tried to draw him into slagging them off but he wasn't getting into that. Was reasonable and talked like an adult, treating the listener like an adult too. Just talked in some depth about where we are, some of the pitfalls we've hit and future options. God, I wish there was an adult in Downing Street who knew - or even cared - something about leadership.
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He was absolutely spot on during the Brexit debacle too. Blair is a brilliant Statesman from a much stronger generation of Politicians.
 
HarryVegas said:
Funny how people are still furious about that war but aren't quite so furious about scores of thousands of UK citizens left to die by our own government's lack of care or action towards this current disease.
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Also how people can still hate Iraq yet willingly accept ten years of austerity that has made millions of people's lives worse. Still, people in boats and blue passports.
 
Nero said:
Also how people can still hate Iraq yet willingly accept ten years of austerity that has made millions of people's lives worse. Still, people in boats and blue passports.
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The more he keeps out of expressing opinions and suggesting policy the better for Starmer. It never goes well and Blair will never be trusted again.
Starmer has been impressive IMHO, surprisingly so.
That said, the current Government leadership is vacuous.
 
The current Government seems very young and inexperienced - wasn't Blair 18 years in opposition before he came to power. I expect my ministers to be in their 50s and 60s and have had 20 years in Parliament.

Blair allowed the left behind areas to get more left behind - in very simple terms the model seemed allow the City of London to generate taxes and use the taxes to give welfare benefits and non jobs to people well away from the South East. It was the Thatcher model, but with more welfare and more help for State schools and hospitals. The better off areas needed young people and when the regions could only supply a limited amount immigration was encouraged.

Manufacturing declined, the City of London grew and grew and took on more & more gambling type products - the seeds for the 2007 collapse were laid and the austerity that followed. He also laid the seeds for UKIP and Brexit.

The policies for education and health were generally correct which was a big plus for Blair. Some employment law was very good. He should have restricted some of extreme gambling in the City of London. Levelled the country up by getting to the real causes of growing differences in economic development i.e. how to make say the North East more competitive. Support was given the Scotland and Wales with their own parliaments, but less to the English regions. Restricted immigration and more up skilling of local UK population and more movement of work to people rather than the other way round. The ego trip with George Bush junior was wrong and embarassing. To be fair hindsight is a great help and I am sure he would have done some things differently.
 
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