Tony Blair Stepping Down June 27

From MSNBC

After decade in power, Blair to quit on June 27
‘I think that’s long enough,’ British leader tells supporters

MSNBC News Services
Updated: 11:49 a.m. CT May 10, 2007
TRIMDON, England - Prime Minister Tony Blair said Thursday that he will step down as prime minister on June 27, after a decade in office in which he brokered peace in Northern Ireland and followed the United States to war in Afghanistan and Iraq.

“I’ve been prime minister of this country for just over 10 years,” Blair told party members in Trimdon in his northern England constituency.

“I think that’s long enough, not only for me, but also for the country and sometimes the only way you conquer the pull of power is to set it down.”

Blair, President Bush’s closest ally over Iraq, leaves office out of favor among voters for sending British forces to join the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

A Labour Party rebellion in September forced him to say he would quit within a year to allow Treasury chief Gordon Brown, his long-time heir apparent, to take over.

Short speech
Surveying his time in power, Blair, 54, told supporters: “Hand on heart, I did what I thought was right.”

Following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the U.S., it was right, Blair said, to “stand shoulder to shoulder with our oldest ally, and I did so out of belief.”

“And so Afghanistan, and then Iraq—the latter bitterly controversial.

“And removing Saddam and his sons from power, as with removing the Taliban, was over with relative ease. But the blowback since, with global terrorism and those elements that support it, has been fierce and unrelenting and costly.

“And for many it simply isn’t and can’t be worth it. For me, I think we must see it through.”

In a short, almost apologetic speech, Blair added: “I may have been wrong. That’s your call.”

‘The beginning of the end’
Brown, Blair’s partner in reforming the Labour Party and a sometimes impatient rival in government, was expected to easily win election a the party’s new leader and become the next prime minister.

Blair’s announcement is one that his Labour Party, and the nation, have been expecting for nearly three years, ever since the prime minister said in 2004 that his third term would be his last.

“Today, the beginning of the end,” read the front page of The Guardian newspaper.

Blair met earlier with Cabinet members, who left No. 10 Downing Street without answering questions shouted by reporters swarming outside.

Brown has already declared he will be a candidate; at least one opponent from the party’s left wing was expected to announce his candidacy Thursday afternoon.

‘A great prime minister’
John Burton, Blair’s political representative in the northern parliamentary district of Sedgefield, said earlier that Blair would continue to represent Sedgefield in Parliament until the next national election, expected in 2009, unless he is offered “a major international or United Nations job.”

The Iraq war, a police investigation of allegations that the government traded honors for political contributions and endless questions about when Blair would step down overshadowed his last term in government, after winning the third term in May 2005.

Blair has stopped short of openly endorsing Brown, a stern Scot who has long coveted the top job, but said last week that Brown would make “a great prime minister.”

“One of the things I very much hope will be part of the legacy of the government is the strongest economy in the Western world which he has been responsible for,” Blair said.

Blair led Labour to two landslide election wins in 1997 and 2001, and a narrower but still comfortable victory in 2005.

Affected by Iraq
The first term was marked by several significant initiatives: the Bank of England was given the freedom to set interest rates, Scotland and Wales were given regional governments, London gained an elected mayor and all but 92 hereditary members were ejected from the House of Lords.

In 1998, Blair and Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern led successful negotiations for a peace agreement in Northern Ireland, launching a process which reached its culmination earlier this week as former enemies from the Protestant and Catholic communities joined to form a new regional government.

The Iraq war severely dented Blair’s popularity. Blair’s close alliance with President Bush was unpopular at home, there were mass marches in Britain opposing the U.S.-led invasion before it began, and the government’s claims that Saddam Hussein was building an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction proved false.

For more than a year, Labour has consistently trailed in opinion polls behind a Conservative Party revived by its new leader, David Cameron.

‘I wanted to please everyone’
In local and regional elections earlier this month, Labour lost hundreds of seats in city and county councils, and was beaten into second place in the Scottish Parliament elections by the Scottish National Party, which advocates independence.

In recent months, Blair’s thoughts have turned to the lessons of his decade in power.

“When I first started in politics, I wanted to please everyone,” Blair said during a tour of the Middle East in December. “After a time I learned that you can’t please everyone, and you learn that the best thing is to do what you think is right and everyone can make their judgment.”

Blair is the first British prime minister since Harold Wilson in 1976 to leave at a time of his own choosing, rather than by losing an election or being forced out by the party.

Blair’s leaving had little of the drama of downfall of Margaret Thatcher, who announced her resignation in 1990 just nine days after she was the target of a savage resignation speech by her former Cabinet colleague, Geoffrey Howe.

© 2007 MSNBC Interactive

 

I still can't believe how much of a toady Tony Blair has been to GW Bush. With the amount of support that he had in the UK and the great things he did involving decentralizing power and bringing peace to the Northern Ireland he could've been one of the great Prime Ministers in modern British History. Instead his legacy is going to be tainted for sticking with GW Bush on an unpopular, misguided and poorly executed war.

Being a friend isn't always a matter of just going along with them but letting them know when they are headed down a wrong course. On top of that this was almost completely a one sided relationship. For Blair's loyalty he got next to nothing back. The Bush Admin. gave Blair no help on a host of other issues such as human rights, the environment, European trade relations, or even the timely release of British citizens from Guantanamo.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/05/17/blair.bush.ap/index.html
From CNN

Bush praises Blair as friend, 'dogged' leader
POSTED: 1:14 p.m. EDT, May 17, 2007

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush said Thursday he's optimistic compromise will be reached with Congress on an Iraq spending bill.

"I think we'll get a deal. We'll work through something we can all live with," Bush said in a Rose Garden news conference with outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

For his part, Blair, the staunchest of U.S. allies on Iraq, predicted that Britain would continue to stand side by side with the United States after he leaves office. He said he did not regret his decision to join Bush in supporting the war in Iraq and "I believe that we will remain a staunch and steadfast ally in the fight against terrorism."

Blair, once enormously popular in his country, saw his popularity tumble largely over his alliance with Bush on Iraq.

The president praised Blair, calling him extremely effective as a leader and "dogged" when he gets on a subject. "I appreciate the fact that he can see beyond the horizon. And that's the kind of leadership the world needs," Bush said.

Asked by a British reporter if Blair was the right person for Bush to be dealing with now, given that he will leave office on June 27, Bush said absolutely. "You're trying to do a tap dance on his political grave," the president said.

Blair said he was proud to stand shoulder-to-shoulder beside the U.S. since the September 11, 2001, terror attacks: "I admire him as a president and I regard him as a friend."

Bush voiced optimism that he could reach a deal with Congress on a stalled $124.2 billion spending bill to help pay for U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Congress and the White House have been at loggerheads over war spending since earlier this month when Bush vetoed the measure after the Democratic-controlled Congress added provisions for troop withdrawals to begin October 1.

Bush said he had instructed Joshua Bolten, his chief of staff, to stay in close touch with congressional leaders. He said he agrees with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid that time is of the essence. And he said he respected the desire of members to include benchmarks in the bill that the Iraqi government should meet.

"I'm optimistic we can do so," Bush said.

Blair, noting that he could hear anti-war demonstrators outside the White House, defended anew his decision to join the U.S. and go to war in Iraq -- even though it has proven unpopular in both countries.

Even if people disagree with remaining in Iraq until victorious, "at least people understand that there is a battle we are fighting around the world today. ... You don't win those battles by being a fair weather friend to your ally."

Blair had good words for Gordon Brown, Britain's Treasury chief, who was confirmed Thursday as the next leader of the Labour Party. Colleagues in the House of Commons overwhelmingly backed him as the only candidate to be the new prime minister. (Watch Brown take over Blair's party)

"I wish him well, I believe he would make a great prime minister," Blair said.

Bush, however, acknowledged that he really didn't know Brown, although the two have met. "I hope to help him in office the way Tony Blair helped me," Bush said.

"Will I miss working with Tony Blair? You bet. Can I work with the next guy? Of course," Bush said.