Big confession: I think Tony Blair is great and wish he wasn't going - am I COMPLETELY on my own?

[chestnutter]

Sorry, I know it's really fashionable to hate him but I think he's been a great PM

[mazzystar]

Don't hate him, though I think he's been on dodgy ground for a bit.

But I love Gordon Brown

[niceglasses]

I feel the labour party has behaved badly and I think he has done some good things, but I'm not sure thats the same thing. I think its time for Gordon Brown. I don't hate Blair though. I didn't agree with Iraq at all and I think that did him in.

[superwomanStitch]

well, i used to be a big fan, long before he became pm
but i think he sold his soul to george w bush. which i dislike him for. however i dont think that anyone else would have done anything any differently.

[Marina]

I've never hated him because, as you say, on the home front they have introduced some good policies. Have a problem with his seemingly almost compulsive need to be liked by everyone, though. And disagree vehemently with his foreign policies, esp. Iraq and cosying up to GWB.
I don't hate Gordon Brown either but I think he has handled the Get Tony Out campaign incredibly badly and that has made me wonder whether he'll actually be much good. Adorable children though, ahhh.

[Tinker]

I have, shamefully, found myself thinking he is quite dishy. Looks after himself . I think he's becoming the underdog now so natural to start almost feeling sorry for him.

[CountTo10]

I have to say I've been always been a fan of saint ton but recently do feel somemewhat let down. However, I can't think of anything worse than Gordon Brown in power right now. He seems to hungry for it and I can't help thinking he might just lose sight of what he's sposed to be doing.

[Mum2FunkyDude]

Unfortunately you cannot run a country if you have don't have power anymore. He has be steamrolled and should get out now. I do not think he was particularly bad, but I think he shot himself in the foot with the Iraq war, ignoring a million people demonstrating against it.

[Tinker]

Yes, without Iraq war he would be rated as one of the most successful PMs I'm guessing.

[drosophila]

I just feel disappointed by both of them really. I do believe that he believes that he was doing the right thing in Iraq but I happen to disagree with him now with regard to looking after himself I always liked Bill Clinton.

[morningpaper]

I liked him in those shorts on holiday

Gordon Brown seems intelligent but very, very mad

[Tinker]

Hmm, yes, Bill...

[VeniVidiVickiQV]

I think he has done alot of good things in his time. Certainly maternity leave related stuff has improved IMO.

More recently, not so much......

[Enid]

what mazzystar said

I feel nostalgia for Tony as I thought he was the bees knees in 1997

[Marina]

Bill. Now we're talking
Gordon Brown looks like Bagpuss at the mousehole these days...

[niceglasses]

I love Gordon too, but I didn't believe him with Andrew Marr at the weekend re not plotting etc. And I didn't get what was so different about his 'indvidualistic' politics. I think he is quite sexy in a gruff way........

[edam]

Have seen Gordon deliver a speech and he is very persuasive. Unfortunately he just doesn't come across well on TV and that's a huge problem for politicians these days.

I wouldn't pee on TB if he was on fire. Corrupt liar. Iraq will haunt us for generations. And a so-called Labour prime minister privatising the NHS, fgs? The only reason he ever joined the Labour party was to see Cherie.

[wrinklytum]

Im sorry but....Iraq. Totally let down on that one and he has irritated me ever since.

[chestnutter]

Interesting views. He certainly will be remembered for Iraq and - although I think the allied forces f&cked up the handover and exit strategy- I think it was the right thing to actually go to war. Sorry but I think that overall the media have failed to give us a balanced view of the outcome. Daily bombings and deaths are appalling, but there are lots of less publicised stories of millions of people across Iraq (not just in Baghdad) whose lives have been permanently changed for the better in terms of the freedoms that they can now enjoy.

[speedymama]

I admire TB and despite what many say, imo, he has actually done a lot for health, education, families and the security of the UK. I personally believe that in the long term we will have a greater insight into why Iraq happened. The colassal mistake with Iraq was not replacing the dismantled security/policing network after the fall of the Baath party. This allowed the criminals and terrorists to establish their presence and they are the ones destablising the country along with continuing spat between the Sunni and Shiites (whatever happened to Muslim brotherhood?). People also need to remember that Muslim extremists have been attacking countries for years, long before 9/11 (Tanzania and Kenya have suffered at the hand of these Islamic murderers but nobody remembers this). People also forget that it was Clinton and Blair who sent in the troops to stop the slaughter of the Muslims in Kosovo/Bosnia.

I admire the fact that he stands resolute in his beliefs and will follow them through, even when it would be easy to pander to the populists and take the less controversial routes.

In my opinion, TB is a great leader as well as a great statesman and history will support this.
The Labour Party should remember that he made them credible and electable.

[Bozza]

I think history will look at him in a better light that we are doing currently. I agree with a lot of you - very much anti Iraq and GWB and have mixed feelings about home policies - good things like nursery grant, increased maternity leave etc compared with bad things like PFI, pathetic pension raises etc.

[expatinscotland]

I'm just waiting for all the 'Gordon Brown is sexy' threads so I can purge myself of my brekkie.

[edam]

No-one said Muslim extremism started with Iraq Speedy. But the complete mishandling of events after the invasion, and appalling prisoner abuse, has sparked more people to join up.

Profoundly disagree with Chestnutter. People are being slaughtered by terrorists in Iraq - do you think the bereaved and injured feel any better because it wasn't Saddam who did it? The position of women in Iraq has been set back decades. They can't go to work because it is just too dangerous, for one thing.

And the whole invasion was based on a huge, cynical lie. There were no weapons of mass destruction and there was no link, as Bush claimed, between the regime and Al Quaeda. Far from it. But now Bush and Blair have given them an opening in Iraq.

Sadly war is good business for firms like Dick Cheney's mates at Haliburton. So that's all right then.

[foundintranslation]

God I remember 97 when we voted them in. It was my first election. We were completely euphoric.

He certainly has done some good things at home - less so abroad...

[jessicaandrebeccasmummy]

Iraq - cck up

Tax Credits - great in principle - sht in practice

NHS - again, great in principle, sh*t in practice - 3months to have jess checked for spina bifida - she is 2 ffs.

NO, Im not a fan, but sadly enough was when I was younger, pre marriage to army soldier and 2 kids.