To think that Tony Blair....

[Abstractedobstructed]

...can have been wrong about Iraq and still have a valid opinion on Brexit?

I posted Blair's short video about the outstanding difficulties with the Johnson agreement on my FB today and get a load of 'but he took us to war'..." Warmonger, war criminal" type stuff. To be honest I find that kind of polarised blinkered thinking a) frustrating b) immature and c) indefensible.

Surely one can disagree with a person's judgement vehemently on one issue; it does not therefore automatically follow that that person is automatically incorrect on every other subject.
I have always found Tony Blair extremely clear and clear-sighted on why Brexit is so very difficult (nigh impossible) to achieve. It was listening to him on R4 a couple of years ago that clarified the Irish border issue for me when the leaders during the referendum barely mentioned it.

Here's his video btw; been somewhat overtaken by events since.

twitter.com/i/status/1185213562270208001

It would seem you yourself have just typed 'blair kosovo' into google.

I've never got the whole Blair liar thing. If you knew there were no WMDs why would you say there were, knowing none would be found?

Error of judgment, horrendous neoliberal values allowing companies to profiteer from the war etc - but I think he believed the threat was genuine.

And he's been bang on about brexit and a million times better at communicating than Corbyn.

And seemingly Cherie Blair's firm was not around 'at the time'. They started working for the Albanian government (ater droppin a US company) in.....2014.

So do we think that if the Tory opposition has been in government in what were very charged times post 9/11, that they would have refused to do the usual British thing of doing exactly what they are told by the US president ?

Tony blair didnt really improve much for people in northern ireland. Not sure why that's seen as a success.

I also imagine that plenty of people didnt have relative killed in the war, he lied about to join.

I am from Derry and lost a brother.

And, perhaps a Tory government would have done the same. That changes nothing.

@Patroclus
No I tend to engage my brain and read books - I highly recommend it

well since you were evidently talking bollocks about it, maybe I wont.

What book was this in BTW?

@Hesafriendfromwork

And, perhaps a Tory government would have done the same. That changes nothing.

Totally agree, after all what former Tory prime ministers husband works for Capital Group - a company thats the largest and second largest shareholder in BAE and Lockheed Martin, and coincidentally enough when the first missile strikes were launched on Syria in 2018, saw their shares skyrocket.

As said before they are all corrupt, regardless of what party they align with.

Why the hell would anyone trust them is beyond me.

I say Smedly Butler has a point that's still valid today.

@Patroclus i suggest you google him, his book is excellent too

I'm not any sort of expert in the politics of NI or the ROI but I do think it's safe to say the GFA was a success and improved lives in NI. Not made them perfect but certainly improved them.

Nippy, by your argument all politicians are as bad as each other, all are corrupt so what's the point in anything. No I haven't read the books you have and i don't know how credible the authors are. But I do know that life is absolutely not the same for the average people in Britain under Tories as it is under Labour, including when Blair was in power. To claim otherwise is just wrong. Who do you vote for btw?

He's not perfect but he did a lot of good (again, what have you read about NI because there's plenty out there about other people's involvement, not just MM, including from the Tories who started it moving tbf), and he is bang on about Brexit. None of what you said changes that.

He can have a valid point about Brexit.

He will still be the most hated former Prime Minister ever, at least until Mr Johnson is out of office.

@theduchessstill

"But I do know that life is absolutely not the same for the average people in Britain under Tories as it is under Labour."

Totally agree, yes.

I voted SNP last time because I want independence from the Westminster shit show, but to be honest I don't align myself with any political party as identity politics is not something I can get on board with.

I'm not any sort of expert in the politics of NI or the ROI but I do think it's safe to say the GFA was a success and improved lives in NI. Not made them perfect but certainly improved them.

Where in NI do you live?

Whilst I agree that you can agree with some people's opinions on some matters & not others the issue with Tony Blair is that he is seen as a liar & corrupt. People don't like the fact he's so wealthy, that his family have such a huge property portfolio etc. personally I don't like him & don't think he helps the cause

Blair is scum and should be hiding under a rock- there are enough remainers in the public eye to quote and agree with can we leave this one alone!

There was such big feelings of hope when TB came into power. I live in Liverpool and it meant a rebirth for the city.

However, he let us down.

Not just with the Iraq war (which is a complex subject), but because the free moment could have been curtailed.

The feelings around economic migration has fueled Brexit, for many. But it did have negative consequences for many people, especially in the North, where unemployment is high.

There's a few issues that he let us down over. But then new Labour didn't profess to serve the Northern WC in the way old Labour did and obviously life was better under a Labour government.