Do most people 'dislike' Tony Blair?

[AgentZigzag]

I accept that the word dislike may not fully encompass the emotional response he provokes in some people, but I personally don't think he's that bad. I see him as a politician who's had to make difficult decisions, rather than someone who took us to war for dishonest reasons.

It was his job to look at the bigger picture after 9/11, I've just seen him saying on the Iraq Inquiry that 3000 people were killed on that day, and if they could have, they would have killed 30000. Surely he had to do everything and anything he thought necessary to try and protect us from people whose reality is so distorted that they would gladly kill and maim as many people in the west as possible, and certainly don't play by any of the rules of normal modern warfare.

I don't think I'm being naive, and I can't stand Labour so it's not because I'm some NuLab fan, but I just don't think he's as bad as the media wants us to think he is.

I despise him. He is excruciatingly self satisfied and pompous. Power corrupts, and it did, it really did.

Dittany I completely agree with what you say about him: "He was an actor Blair, all things to all people, but not much of a moral centre apart from being very authoritarian." but I absolutely disagree that Obama is cut from the same cloth. He is NOT. Obama is an idealist. He may be nice to look at and his words are beautiful, but he is a man of substance. Time will tell.

we had quite lengthy chats with him in those days and he always came across as a man of God more so than a politician - it could be that he set out to achieve something truly noble, but he was well and truly out of his depth so never managed to see it through and cut his losses and ran.

I don't know him personally but I hate the arrogance with which he decided to go to war when he was advised it was illegal. He didn't even consult his cabinet even though it's there to act as a check on decisions.

Further his obsession with how he will be remembered - which is now as a duplicitous egotist.

And finally for the contempt with which he so clearly regarded the wishes of his electorate.

The best thing that can happen now is Tony Blair is never again allowed to take an important decision and to pass into anonimity as rapidly as possible.

"he always came across as a man of God more so than a politician"

That is the truly terrifying part - that he must genuinely have thought he was on some religious mission. Zealots of all religious and political creeds scare me.

i'm not going to bother defending him beyond that actually as i was never more than an acquaintance and never saw him post 1998. he could have changed, he could have gone slightly insane, who knows?

I'm sure on a personal level he was perfectly charming.

the only doubt we ever had about him was that upon the basis of what he said, he was always 110% Catholic - he always did fudge that one, though it is understandable in a sense (bit like omitting something irrelevant but potentially detrimental to include, from your CV).

"excruciatingly self satisfied and pompous" erm, sorry, i think you are confusing him for david cameron.

I too cannot stand Blair. I voted for New labour and I honestly thought it was going to be a new and shiney Britain.

He is smary and fake.

Still the millions he has in the bank now for doing the American lecture circuit and well worth 200,000 dead Iraqis.

I would like to see him hang.

Totally coincidentally I've just got this in an email

BROWN, DARLING AND A DOG

Gordon Brown called Alastair Darling into his office one day & said, 'Alastair, I have a great idea!? We are going to go all out to win back Middle England '. 'Good idea PM, how will we go about it?' said Darling.

'Well' said Brown 'we'll get ourselves two of those long Barbour coats, some proper wellies, a stick & a flat cap, Oh & a Labrador. Then we'll really look the part. We'll go to a nice old country pub, in Much Something or other & we'll show we really enjoy the countryside, .......... Oh! & remember not to mention the Hunting With Dogs Act'

'Right PM' said Darling. So a few days later, all kitted out & with the requisite Labrador at heel, they set off from London .

Eventually they arrived at just the place they were looking for & found a lovely country pub &, with the dog, went in & up to the bar.

'Good evening Landlord, two pints of you best ale, from the wood please' said Brown

'Good evening, Prime Minister' said the landlord, 'two pints of best it is, coming up'

Brown & Darling stood leaning on the bar contemplating new taxes, nodding now &
again to those who came in for a drink, whilst the dog lay quietly at their feet.

As they drank their beer they chatted about how heart-rending it was that pensioners were being imprisoned for not paying the council tax.

All of a sudden the door from the adjacent bar opened & in came a grizzled old shepherd, complete with crook. He walked up to the Labrador lifted its tail & looked underneath, shrugged his shoulders & walked back to the other bar.

A few moments later, in came a wizened farmer who followed the same procedure, to the bewilderment of Brown & Darling. People of all ages & gender followed suit over the next hour.
Eventually, unable to stand it any longer, Darling called the landlord over. 'Tell me' said Darling, 'Why did all those people come in & look under the dog's tail like that??? Is it an old country custom?

'Good Lord no,' said the landlord.

'It's just that someone has told them that there was a Labrador in this bar with two a holes'

I think he's ok and (on a superficial level) quite attractive.

i agree mrs sb
i respect him which is rare for me and politicians - particularly after even one term in office

Dittany - agree about John Smith. Loved him.

I also think it's almost impossible to form an opinion on whether you 'like' a public figure or not. You need to know someone personally (I wish ) in order to decide if you like them. Anything based on less than personal knowledge is just what you are being fed by the media imho.

From 1994 to 2007 the "media" was feeding me the line that Tony Blair was the new fucking Messiah. And I still managed to form the opinion that he was full of shit.

Don't be so patronising.

Well good for you.

Many opinions seem to be based on fact when in fact people have never met the man.

Can't stand the man - or even more so his wife. Calling a child a 'contraceptive failure' when it was purely political.

Oh right, so no one can have an opinion about any public figure in your view unless they have met them?

Going to be a bloody low turn out in the general election if everyone follows your ideals.

Georgimama what do you think of Gordy?

You can have an opinion on policies GeorgieMama. I maintain it is difficult to form a true opinion of a personality unless you have met someone.

Not much. Best thing you can say about him is he's not TB. And tbh TB did stuff him right royally. "Oh, Gordon, I think it's your turn now". Poor sod. I almost feel sorry for him. He was ^desperate" to be PM. But for what? What has he done with all that power? Not that I would have agreed with any Labour policies, but what has he done for the last two and a half years to advance his political ideas?

But then I remember that he was TB's Chancellor for 10 years, and is up to his own neck in it too. And any sympathy runs out.

And sadly it's usually a low turnout anyway. Last local election I was involved with was around 12% iirc.

What difference does being face to face with someone make? Whenever I see him on TV or in print he is smarmy and self satisfied. I doubt meeting him face to face would alter this opinion.

i assume you have children Georgimama?

is he of school age?

er yes, er no.

And?