To not understand the Tony Blair hatred thing

[smashedinductionhob]

I remember Tony Blair being very popular in his day and recall him doing reasonably good things.

I do remember very clearly the run up to the Iraq war and saying to my husband that I did not agree with it as there was no actual plan and the US public seemed to think Saddam Hussain was connected to 9/11 which he wasn't.

I remember passionate supporters of ethnic minorities in Iraq supporting him and only a few brave clever people like Obama calling it as a mistake.

I failed to demonstrate. The dossier was identified in Parliament (by a small minority) as dodgy before the war started but most of us went along with it.

It was clear to me at the time that the PM was supporting the US as a matter of principle (a lousy principle but fairly obvious).

How did we get from there to TB as hate figure? Is he just a scapegoat?

[armpitz]

Not "anti immigration", OP.

Anti "uncontrolled migration" yes.

[TimeforANewTwatName]

The privatisation and demise of the NHS was started by the tories, but instead of putting a stop to it he went along with it.

[Inkanta]

Yes OP i understand what you mean. He was quite popular when he was in office seemed a likeable character. It's in more recent years that the hatred has established itself. I too was opposed to the war - and remember being quite alarmed by it, but at the same time was under the impression that we were being a good ally to the US.
I suppose we know things differently now.

[smashedinductionhob]

Tinkly your posts all make sense.

Do you think you are more balanced in your views because you were not taken in at the time of the war.

[woodhill]

I didn't agree with him going to war and he had no substance. He and his wife were very grabby and out for what they could get.

[TinklyLittleLaugh]

And on a personal note, DH and me, two working class kids, first in our families to go to uni blah, blah, blah, did massively well under Blair in a way that seems closed to people like us now. Social mobility used to be a thing.

[armpitz]

To be fair I didn't mind Tony at the time.

It's only retrospectively that I've considered his years were as damaging in their way as Thatcher's were.

I'm not sure there was a lot of support for the war at the time. Certainly, there were heavy protests from my memory.

[smashedinductionhob]

I take on board all the moderate criticisms but to suggest he is a war criminal?

[TheHiphopopotamus]

Weren't university fees introduced under Blair as well?

Also, tax credits might have seemed like a good idea at the time, but ultimately they've just encouraged big businesses who could afford to pay their workers more, get away with paying them minimum wage instead.

And also, what everyone else has said.

[smashedinductionhob]

If I recall rightly, the war was approved by Parliament?

[smashedinductionhob]

Right.....

Tax credits not being as helpful as he hoped.....

Fair enough but it's no reason to hate someone.....

[TinklyLittleLaugh]

I think I'm on the same page as you smashed. Blair is hated by the Tories and the Left. He has obviously pissed off a lot of people in power too. Ex PMs are rarely so thoroughly derided. He seems more hated than Thatcher, which is crazy.

[armpitz]

University grants did indeed vanish under Blair.

Not to mention degrees became worthless.

I understand totally why TCs are helpful to the individual but I think they've had a poor and sustained impact on the country as a whole.

[smashedinductionhob]

I think so Tinkly.

It's a bit like Hillary hate.

Some of the reasons listed here are just normal aspects of being in politics.

[Moussemoose]

I'm a socialist so would class myself as well to the left of Blair.

He did take us in to an unnecessary war, and he lied. But so would almost any other British PM in similar circumstances. The notable exception being Wilson keeping us out of Vietnam.

So far, so like everybody else. He did some good things as Tinkly describes.

On balance a bit of a knob but a light weight compared to the unspeakable vileness of thatcher ( deliberate lower case). I don't understand the depth of the hatred.

[RortyCrankle]

He is a war criminal, was Bush's poodle, hell bent on making money and gaining power. What's not to like?

[TinklyLittleLaugh]

No, in the long term, tax credits and minimum wage have not been as helpful as was hoped. But I am old enough to remember working a Saturday job for a pittance and raising a young family pre tax credits, and that was no picnic. I don't think minimum wage is as high as it should be though.

[smashedinductionhob]

Thanks Mousse.

I'm thinking scapegoat here.

I would feel differently if the war had been successfully covered up at the time.

[TheNaze73]

I think lefties who slate him, need to remember he's the only Labour leader to win elections in the last 40 years & with their current leadership probably the next 40 years too.
I voted Labour in 1997 but, would never again

[TulipsInAJug]

Every British PM worked for peace in Northern Ireland John Major probably did most, but Tony Blair loves taking all the credit and the glory.

He cheapened and devalued university degrees.

And ended social mobility and started the privatisation of education by introducing tuition fees.

He changed Labour into a right-wing party which has split it irrevocably and has eroded any real Left opposition.

He pocketed millions pretending to be a middle east peace envoy while cosying up to middle east despots and human rights abusers. What a hypocrite.

His hubris knows no bounds, to the extent that he now thinks he can lead an anti-brexit revolution from the City. His contempt for democracy is pretty staggering.

I've read his memoirs. For him, it was all about power.

He's the director link to current elitist, privately educated and narcissistic career politicians such as George Osborne. (Blair wholeheartedly supported him on his latest 'job').

[smashedinductionhob]

I wonder whether "war criminal" is being used to mean "person who made the wrong call about a war....."

Is the problem that he wasn't punished for making the wrong call?

[armpitz]

I agree Tinkly but I can't ignore the fact the MW has soared under Cameron and May. Still not enough to live on, I know.

I think more to the point is lack of job security. It's all very well getting £7.50 an hour but if you don't know how many hours you're doing one week to the next that's useless!

[LiviaDrusillaAugusta]

Plenty of people have accused him of being a war criminal - it's not just something that a few people have named him as

But why ask if all you are going to do is defend him? You say you understand about the Iraq war etc so it seems an odd question to ask.

[TheHiphopopotamus]

OP, not sure what this thread is trying to achieve. You've asked why people hate Blair and you've been given some (very) good reasons as to why that might be, including taking us into an illegal war which is responsible for thousands of death.

And yet you're still scratching your head (a bit disingenuously, I might add) whilst saying you can't quite understand what he did that was so bad.

[armpitz]

Maybe OP is Tony!